Summer Time
by RockIll
Summary: The Summer is the most trying of time, especially when you love a friend with an...interesting past HHr fluff, mentionings of sex, scene of rape
1. Waiting

_**Summer Time**_

_**Waiting**_

_ Hermione's POV _

It was August 1, Hermione along with the Weasleys and others sat in the living room of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, awaiting the arrival of Harry Potter. Dumbledore had told them that Harry had changed much over the summer. He had kept them updated on anything having to do with Harry, and the search for Harry. He just would not tell them _exactly_ how much Harry had changed, probably because he did not know himself.

Everyone was eager to see Harry. Hermione and Ginny had redecorated Sirius' old room, though anxious as to how Harry would react to the dark memories of the room. Ron and Mr. Weasley helped add a "man's" touch to it. They said something about boys not liking pink. Mrs. Weasley went completely out of her way to cook all of Harry's favorite foods. She even stayed up through the night to cook some of his favorite meals and no one was allowed to touch them. Ron found this out the hard way. She said she had a feeling that Harry was not eating well. But out of all them, Hermione had to be the most anxious to see Harry.

Harry had been writing to them every three days up until this day, just like he had promised. But his letters did nothing but fuel their anticipations. Harry had been writing one, sometimes two, sentenced responses to them. And the oddest thing was, no one ever saw the owl that delivered the letter, if it was an owl. Somehow the letter always ended upon the kitchen table, or in Dumbledore's case, desk.

And if the letters and their odd delivery were not making her anxious enough, Hermione had _overheard_ Professor Dumbledore telling Mr. and Mrs. Weasley a few weeks ago of a peculiar discussion he had with Harry. He told them that he had asked Harry if Harry wanted training, but Harry told him "no" and walked away. He said Harry did not give an explanation or an enlightenment, just "no." Dumbledore preceded to talk about the visiting the Dursleys in an attempt to uncover anything about Harry's recent attitude. Their responses to his questions of Harry were answered swiftly with their statements of "the freak left" and by them slamming the door in his face.

Dumbledore told the Weasleys that he had _questioned_ them further, though without their conscious consent. He found that they were telling the truth and that Harry had indeed disappeared, the moment he was out of the train station he had told them to go home and he was not going to return to them. Hermione could remember the thoughts that ran through her mind. She wanted to rush into the kitchen and demand Dumbledore go look for Harry, but logic took over. She would have to explain how she had come across such information.

She had left her position on the floor by the door and stationed herself in the living room. A good move on her part, for Dumbledore had called for an Order meeting immediately after the conversation and wanted her and Ron to join them. Though most of the Order members, Mrs. Weasley being the most opposing, immediately argued against this. Dumbledore had, however, dismissed their arguments with a well-placed: "they are almost adults and have faced things that most adults faced," he quickly added, "they are also our experts on Mr. Potter."

Having dispelled the agitation of his members, even if in the slightest, Dumbledore continued on with the emergency meeting. The members who were to watch Harry on arrival said that the Dursleys had not come home as soon as they had expected and they had gone to the train station to check it out. When they arrived back at the house, the car was there, lights were on, so they assumed Harry had arrived.

During this account Tonks arrived with Mad-eye Moody and someone Hermione believed to be an auror. They told of searching the train station. There had been no recent use of Dark Magic, magical transportation, or even a magical struggle. They had, however, found and traced Harry's magical signature but they ran into a wall, literally. At the base of a nearby building, his trace disappeared.

The rest of the night went by in a flash for Hermione. She remembered major occurrences such as Dumbledore sending his pet phoenix, Fawkes, to find Harry and the immediate return of Fawkes that sent a shiver down her spine. When Dumbledore questioned Fawkes on Harry's whereabouts, the phoenix stuck out his wing and out fell a letter. Hermione never found out what was in the letter, Dumbledore skimmed through it rather quickly and turned to her and Ron, asking them for any additional information. They had been completely kept in the dark by Harry, from what she and Ron put together. They could offer nothing sufficient. Dumbledore dismissed them afterwards. Hermione had not slept at all that night.

She had spent the next few days worrying about Harry. She was not the only one of course. Ron had been pumping all of his siblings for facts, excluding Ginny (who oddly enough seemed pleased). Ron had been met with the same answer from all whom he asked, that the investigation was in an early stage and they will inform him when they found more. And of course there was Lupin . . .

Hermione shuddered slightly at the memory. A lupin had gone on a rampage after Harry's disappearance. No, one, not even Dumbledore, dared to talk or even approach him. Hermione could somewhat understand what Remus was going through. First he had lost Harry's parents, then Sirius, then he got Sirius _back_ but not before losing him again, permanently. Now, Harry was gone. He locked himself in his room, and Mrs. Weasley had the hardest time trying just to get him to eat on a regular basis.

Hermione did the only thing she could do at the time, in a desperate move, she wrote to Harry. Through it she vented all of her rage and frustration. The letter, however, was written only for that purpose only, for Hermione to vent her rage. She addressed the letter to Harry, put it on her night stand and went to bed, contented. She awoke in the morning of the next day to find the letter gone. She figured she had misplaced it until she noticed the beautiful white feather that was lying in the spot previously held by the letter.

She had rushed to the makeshift owlery, which was Sirius' parents' old room. She saw the owl of her interest. Hedwig was still there, she looked restless and she looked to Hermione eagerly as if wanting Hermione to give her a mission. Hermione knew then that Hedwig was not the one who took her letter. Days later, a letter addressed to Remus was on the table at breakfast. He opened at the table and read it with a hollowed and pallid face and reddened eyes. He ignored all of their questions of what Harry had written. Hermione could practically see the weight being drawn off his shoulders as he read it. Some color arose in his cheeks and a brief smile was tugging at his face.

Hermione had gone to her night stand that night and contemplated on what to write to Harry this time. After minutes of contemplating, she finally subjected to write what she felt the most above everything else into the letter. She did not ask him where he was, if he was all right, or even what had happened. She wrote a simple '_thank you_' on the letter and addressed it to him. She knew that he was safe now, somehow, and that she did not have to ask him of such. She went to bed that night, even more contented than the night before. And when she woke up the next morning and saw another feather, she felt a little better.

A chiming noise from the mantlepiece brought Hermione out of her thoughts. The clock had struck five. Dumbledore said Harry would be arriving at five.

For a split second, time seemed to stop. Suddenly a bright light blossomed into view in front of the mantle. A beautiful song like that of Fawkes' started to fill the room, but this song was different somehow. It had the euphonic charm and tone that Fawkes' carried, but something was definitely different. After a few seconds she realized what the difference was. She had read that all phoenixes had different songs. All it took was a patient and lucky listener to decipher the differences.

There was a great flash of white light. The light dimmed quickly and the effects disappeared. Hermione focused on the mantle once more. There was a still figure there along with a trunk. Immediately Hermione made some quick observations.

It was definitely Harry, and the hair and eyes spoke for themselves. But there were subtle differences that caught her eye. His hair seemed a bit more tamed than usual, and it also had a new length. His scar was showing proudly, something that she was sure Harry would never let that happen. He was not wearing his glasses and his eyes sparkled with a new light, Hermione was intrigued and had always been intrigued by his eyes.

Her eyes went lower. His face seemed to have lost its' old, youthful look. There were scars, small ones though, on his face. The scars showed that he had been through a lot. At least he was still her height, Hermione joked to herself. He had grown into his body. It seemed that he had grown into his height. He filled out his T-shirt and pants perfectly. And his clothes seemed to fit him for once.

Harry inspected the room for a moment or two. Was it just her or did his eyes just linger on her face, Hermione dismissed it though as Harry reached down and patted a beautiful bird that was sitting on his trunk. It _was_ a different phoenix, she thought triumphantly. It was a beautiful white phoenix.

A glimmer of light at his ear grabbed her attention. He had an earring. She could not get a good glance at it being that Harry was constantly moving his head.

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out. He noticed her problem and smiled somewhat. The old, youthful look was back.

"I. . ." His voice sent a tingle through her. It was deeper and more mature than it had been when they had departed at the train station. "I'm sorry if we've startled you, but it was the quickest way here. Didn't Dumbledore tell you I was coming?" Was it just her or did he have a small accent? "You can put your wands down. Better yet, keep 'em out. If there was one thing I've learned is always having a defensive measure on hand."

Hermione noticed for the first time that she along with everyone else in the room was standing with their wands out, positioned on Harry.

Hermione was the first to get control of her voice. "Carry." She as if his name did not quite fit him anymore. "Harry-."

"Hermione Granger, tongue twisted, I don't see that much."

Hermione blushed much to her own displeasure. She immediately rushed forward, scolding him along the way. "Where have you been? Do you know how worried we were? How are you? Did something happen?" She threw her arms around the now stunned Harry. He stiffened to the touch. "Something did happen, didn't it? Were you hurt? Are you all right?" And she unknowingly went about babbling out incessant questions and then answering them herself, when he was too slow to react.

A very abashed Harry looked to the others in the room appealingly. "Can someone help me?" Hermione buried her face in the crook of his face and continued babble. The others in the room relaxed and sent him looks, clearly saying 'that's what you get.'

Hermione felt a lump move on the side of Harry's body and jumped back with a gasp as a hiss emitted from the lump. Harry reached under his shirt, exposing a lot of his fit stomach to Hermione, and pulled out a very disgruntled snake. Hermione backed away slightly as the snake bared his fangs at her. Harry said something to it in a sharp tone and it retracted.

"Don't be alarmed. Selian just doesn't like to be squeezed. I found that out the hard way." Harry pointed to a set of snake bites on his neck. Hermione gasped and paled. Mrs. Weasley could be heard in the background murmuring chastising comments under her breath. "At least I'm immune to most snake bites now."

Hermione shook herself out of the stupor that had taken over her. Everyone was staring at Harry in a disbelieving manner. "What!"

"Harry, mate, wha-." Ron started to say but was cut off by the abrupt departure of the beautiful white phoenix. There was no sound in this departure, just a small flash of light. It left a feather or two on the trunk.

"So that's how you've been sending post." Hermione said suddenly. Everyone's eyes were on her, she explained. "When I was sending him letters, there was always a feather on my night stand."

"She's been shedding. Mast- Star's owner told me that she sheds the feathers she deems unworthy. She is a very ostentatious bird. But you should see her on her lighting day-."

"Lighting day?" Remus said. "Don't phoenixes have burning days?"

"She's a special kind of phoenix, a Light phoenix. Her owner told me that seeing different kinds of phoenixes in one's lifetime is an incredible feat."

"It is! I've never thought I'd see two in one lifetime." Remus said.

"I've never heard of a _Light_ phoenix. I've read about there being different types of phoenixes but never any that did not have fire traits."

"Oh there aren't. Light fire is a special type of fire. I'll tell you about it at dinner." At the term 'dinner' Mrs. Weasley interest in the conversation seemed to rise. "I hope you have something prepared, if not I can whip up something. I'm starving." Mrs. Weasley was at his side in an instant, carefully avoiding the snake though.

"Come dear, let's get you settled in first. Fred and George can take your trunk to your room." The twins bounced their way over to Harry.

"We are at your service." They said in unison. They might be adults, age wise, but that did not keep them from keeping with their old tricks.

Harry tapped his trunk with one finger and it levitated off the ground. He shook himself and put his left hand in his pocket. Harry gave it a small push. "It's okay. I'm sure it will find Sirius' room on its own." The trunk slowly glided to the hallway.

_Sirius' room!_

Hermione was flabbergasted. She looked over to Ginny, who was mirroring, her expression. How did Harry know that Sirius' old room was being turned into his room? She was sure that no one knew it but she, Ron, Mr. Weasley and Ginny. And out of them all, Hermione was probably the only one who had been in contact with Harry. And he was even implying that he would be _staying_ there, _willingly_! Hermione's hand touched the pocket of her jeans that held the practiced argument she and Ginny were planning to act out in case Harry put up a fight against the bedding arrangements.

Harry stuffed his hands in his pocket shyly and took a moment to examine the room rather than the inhabitants who were looking at him in awe. "Wow Mrs. Weasley. You've outdone yourself with the remodeling." Mrs. Weasley blushed somewhat at the comment.

"Oh, it was all Hermione and Ginny. They have been working hard on the house and-."

"You guys can _clean_?" Harry said with false astonishment. Ginny threw him a glare. Hermione hit him in the arm playfully. Harry laughed.

He turned serious suddenly. "Remus you-."

"Yes, I moved all of Sirius' family things to the attic. No one touched them. I don't why you are so interested in the items."

"They may be dark, but they were created for a reason. I reckon that might be useful to use, futuristically. It could really help us."

"Or kill us." Remus murmured under his breath.

"SO." Harry said sending a very odd look to Remus. "About dinner." To emphasize this point his stomach growled.

"To the kitchen dear." She said pulling and half-dragging Harry to the kitchen.

Hermione looked at Remus as he slowly followed the two. Something was up, and she could feel it.

Dinner was a semi-awkward. Though they had a small discussion on the phoenixes, they really weren't into the conversation. There was definitely something happening between Harry and Remus. The tension was seriously palpable. Harry's eating habits were extremely peculiar to her. True, Hermione Granger was a friend of, and she knew him better than anyone else. She had studied him, sort of like a class - Potter 101, she liked to call it - and she knew when something was wrong with him just by watching him do normal, everyday activities.

Her mind, as soon as he began to eat, wrapped itself around the fact that he was hesitant to let anyone touch his food or drink. But he managed to do it in a peaceful, polite way. No one else seemed to notice it. His hesitance showed open vigilance to his surroundings, to Hermione this meant he was either suspicious of someone in the house or that he was just trying to be polite. Most likely the fore than latter.

He ate mechanically, and he seemed to be far away in thought. Something was deeply troubling him, she thought. She saw him glance at Remus quite a few times. Hermione pondered about that for a moment, but when nothing striking came to mind, she moved on.

He was not at all affable but managed to insert a comment or two every now and then into one of the conversations that were going on around him. There were other things too, but none were too evident or frequent to study.

The twins asked for a plate of chicken that was to Harry's left in the middle of dinner. Hermione did not think much of it until she saw Harry's reaction. He politely smiled and pulled his left hand from under the table to get the plate. There was a small _clink_ when Harry's hand touched the plate. Hermione heard a small gasp and saw Remus looking at Harry in an aghast manner. She, as well as everyone else, turned to Harry and saw his hand dart quickly under the table. He glared deeply at Remus before passing the plate to the twins with his right hand.

After that dinner went by as it had before, though this time, it seemed, that everyone else was beginning to notice things about Harry too. Every now and then someone would throw a glance at Harry. When dessert arrived, Hermione heard a slight chuckle from Harry's direction. She looked at him, however and did not see a change in him at all. She turned away. She heard the chuckle once more, and once more she turned. She saw nothing out of place. She noticed that Remus was watching him as well.

She heard the chuckle again. It was louder this time. She saw Harry squirming in his seat. A lump was visible in his shirt and his snake's head was bobbing around his ear. Harry murmured something in a foreign tongue. Hermione felt another chill go through her as she heard Harry conversing with the snake in Parseltongue. All conversation seemed to cease, Harry did not seem to notice.

He nodded his head in an affirming manner to something the snake had said and the snake slithered around his neck in a very threatening way. The snake seemed to grow in size as it slithered around Harry's neck. Hermione felt a sense of dread at the site. But the snake slithered down Harry's chair and out of the room. Harry's attention fell back on those in the room.

"Oh, sorry about that, Selian was bugging me nonstop. He smelled mice upstairs and didn't want to sit here starving while we humans fattened ourselves." Harry gave another laugh.

Ginny spoke suddenly. "I hope you warned it about Hedwig."

Harry smiled at her, Hermione was suddenly getting irritated by the conversation. "They were _introduced_ before I sent Hedwig to Hermione. It makes me wonder though."

"About what?" Ginny asked quickly, taking the question right out of Hermione' mouth.

"It makes me wonder who would be the victor in a clash between a magical bird and a magical snake. The Food Chain theory doesn't exactly work for magical creatures."

"True." Hermione said.

"Sellian's magical?" Ginny said.

Harry beamed slightly at the mispronunciation of his snake's name. "It's Selian. It takes a lot of hissing to be able to pronounce it right." Ginny blushed. Hermione was enraged. Ginny was experienced with the Parseltongue language, and she could pronounce it right. Probably did it to get Harry's attention, Hermione raged mentally. "And yes his is magical, he did just increase his length." Ginny blushed deeper in the most innocent of ways. If she had not been extremely enraged, Hermione would have admitted to it.

"Can he do anything else?" Ron asked. Everyone turned to look at him. "I don't like spiders. I don't have anything against snakes, instead of the Slytherins." Remus and Harry laughed.

"Ron." His mother warned. She turned to Harry. "He isn't poisonous?"

"Oh definitely. One bite can kill you." Remus choked on his drink and everyone turned to Harry in shock.

"What are you doing with a poisonous snake!" Remus yelled surprising everyone at the table except, seemingly, Harry.

"He's cute." Harry said simply. Remus opened his mouth to say something. "And his bite is what make him a magical creature. He can choose what his venom will do to you. I've seen it stun, paralyze, maim, cripple, and kill people." That did not help much. "Besides, there are ongoing studies about the venom helping cure lycanthropy." Remus was silent after that being said.

"What did it so to you, since you were bitten?"

"I frightened him. He stunned me and tried to figure out what to do with me. When I heard him say 'share', I talked him out of it. His venom circulated turnout my body. Mast-someone told me that having the venom inside of me seemed to have formed a protective barrier around - anyway it didn't hurt me."

"What about Hermione?" Ron asked angrily.

Harry glanced at Hermione. "What about her?" Hermione could see the anger flash in Ron's eyes.

"Your _snake_ almost bit her!" Harry smiled calmly.

"A snake that _almost_ bites you, is a snake that rears up, comes at you and misses, or some variation of that. A snake that erects its body," Harry ignored the snickers from the twins, "that is a snake that is giving you a warning. In Hermione's case he was telling her not to repeat what she had done to aggravate him." Ron went red from the lecture. "Besides, he and I have already had a discussion about that. I told him that if he feels threatened, to stun." The looks that appeared on the faces of those at the table were stricken with horror. "I told him to then come to me and I'll straighten it out. I'm not going to let him be taking advantage of but I told him that if he abuses this right he would find himself in Hedwig's food bowl."

"Harry!" Hermione said. She did not like the sound of that. Harry looked at her sternly.

"Snakes, generally like to be left alone, so I advise you to keep your distance. If he is doing something that you do not like, just tell him in a calm and sturdy voice 'Don't' and he will stop want he is doing."

"I think you forgot the fact that we don't speak Parseltongue, oh smart one. That leaves us defenseless to him." Ron sneered. Hermione was not sure which side to take in the matter. Both held good arguments.

Harry leveled Ron with a steady glare. "I've taught him simple English phrases such as 'don't', 'wait', 'slow down', and 'calm down'. He understands directions and generally answers back with a nod or 'human'." Ron went red but there was disbelief apparent at the table. "He also answers to his name," He gaze went to Ginny and his voice softened, "if it is pronounced correctly." Ginny blushed and a smile appeared on Harry's face. It stayed for the rest of the meal and Hermione did not like it at all.

Hermione liked Harry, and she was open with herself about it. She just never knew how to get his attention. None of her Potter 101classes clued her into Harry's mind about girls. But from what she understood, he was completely clueless about girls. She remembered her rendezvous with Victor Krum. She wanted both Ron and Harry to see her in a new light. Ron was the closest but the test did not work out to plan being that Harry fell for Cho Chang.

However, it did brighten her spirits the way in which the two broke up. She knew it was a horrible thing to say, but Harry had to see Cho for the pretty face she was. Cho did not deserve Harry. She was only interested in Harry because Harry was the last to see her Cedric. It had pained Hermione to see Harry being used, but he had to see Cho for what she was on his own.

"Hermione is everything all right?" She sat with Harry in the living room. Harry had looked up from the book he was engrossed in. The light from the fireplace acting as a soothing and luminous lamp. His snake was peering down at the book from over his shoulder.

If it was not strange enough that he was reading a book altogether, he and his snake seemed to be reading out of a book that only the two of them could understand.

"Oh, no, I was just thinking. . ." She said uncomfortably. Ever since the argument at dinner, Hermione had the feeling Harry was watching her more closely than usual.

"About what?" He said shutting his book. He placed his right hand over his left hand immediately.

"You-." She revised her statement quickly after he raised his eyebrows. "Your behavior I mean." Good save Hermione, she thought to herself. Was it just her or did it get hot in here extremely quickly. Hermione continued calmly. "You disappear into thin air and then come back all. . . different." Harry tilted his head a little. The fire in the fireplace cast unusual shadows on his features. The scars on his face were illuminated.

"Yeah, Master K believed that I was always running into things before thinking, one thing being the Ministry of Magic fiasco. He said I could have handled it better even if I was being deceived. So we worked on that; patience, staying calm, and keeping control of my emotions and the situation." Harry said with a bored tone.

"That's not what I mea-. What do you mean by Master?" She asked. She was beginning to get worried. Harry stuffed his left hand into his pocket, Hermione was sure she had seen something glitter on it, he gathered his things, his snake and book. Hermione thought he was going to leave without answering her question.

"I'm sorry Hermione, but I was sworn to secrecy. But do not worry about it." He gave her a quick peek on the cheek before heading out of the room and she heard him heading up the stairs.

Hermione later wished he hadn't departed with a kiss, she did not have time to enjoy it being that she spent her time trying to decipher what he could have possibly meant by "Master."

At breakfast the next morning, Hermione was sure that everyone had picked up on Harry's odd eating habits. He fixed his own plate and ate large helpings of everything, though the latter of the two were not quite normal; he ate slowly and only with his right hand.

Ron seemed to have forgotten his little spat with Harry last night, he broke the uneasy silence that surrounded them with a question to Harry. "So, Harry, are you going to tell us where you've been all that time?" He said with his mouth full.

Harry did not seem to notice him at first. Then he spoke, it was a tone that Hermione had never heard from him, it was so dead and unemotional. "Never asked questions that have answers you can't accept."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ron asked, his anger flaring.

Harry, who had kept his eyes downward looked up suddenly. His eyes were dull and empty. He looked like he had not received any sleep. He spoke once more. "Sometimes it is best if we do not know some things." Ron seemed shocked by Harry demeanor. "That's just like asking me if I have ever killed a man." The table went quiet. "You wouldn't want to know the answer to that question."

"I already know the answer." Ron said. For some reason Hermione did not like the direction of the conversation.

"Really!" Harry said with fake surprise.

"_You_ couldn't kill _someone. You_ just. . . couldn't." Ron said with conviction.

"Our _initial_ perspective of a person can often lead to false hopes and beliefs." He turned to Mrs. Weasley and spoke with the same dead tone. "Excuse me." He left the room at an abrupt pace.

Hermione resisted the urge to run after him. Ron was extremely angry afterwards. He attacked his food fiercely. Harry stayed in his room all day, or at least that was what they supposed. Harry had locked his door and no one could get in and there were no sounds coming from the room.

That night there was a scheduled Order of the Phoenix meeting. Dumbledore invited her and Ron on the same conditions that he had the first time.

He examined his fingers as he talked to them. "As we all know, Harry Potter has kept his promise and returned. But according to those who have been watching him, he has been acting. . . odd." He said to start the meeting.

Mrs. Weasley spoke up first. "He was so cold today. He was just fine yesterday."

"He has a poisonous snake." Ron said angrily. There was general gasping.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed.

"It tried to bite you!" There was another gasp.

"Ms. Granger?" Dumbledore asked pointedly.

"I agree with Harry. The snake was warning me not to squeeze him again."

Snape snorted from his seat. "Trust a Gryffindor to tempt a snake and blame the repercussions on the snake." Several others in the room laughed.

"With all respect Professor, Ron is the one blaming Harry, not me."

Ron went red in his seat. "All the same. . ." Snape said.

"He has these scars all over his body." Tonks said from her seat. Heads craned to look at her.

"And how would you know that?" Mrs. Weasley asked stiffly.

"You sent me up there to get him for breakfast, I just happen to catch him coming out of the shower." She turned to Dumbledore. "You have to see him." There were several snorts from those at the table. "For his scars, get your minds out of the gutter."

"What's a gutter?" Tonks gave a groan. The person next to her gave the obvious pureblooded member a small muggle lesson and Tonks continued with her report.

". . .one that ran up his stomach to his chest and another that looks deep."

"What is the condition of the scars?" Dumbledore asked quickly.

"They seemed to be old, like I said before. They seemed to be professionally healed and treated-."

"I doubt that they were 'professionally healed and treated' if you can see it." Ron said just loud enough so Tonks could hear it.

Dumbledore spoke in defense of Tonks. "Not all scars can be completely healed. I have a rather nasty one on my-."

"Albus!" Professor McGonagall said in outrage.

"Yes, well, it is quite nasty." She glared at him and he moved off the subject of his scars. "I find the supposed age of these scars very confusing."

"Why is that?" Moody asked.

"It is not possible for him to have received these scars during his vacation. Otherwise, they would have seemed new to Ms. Tonks."

"It's possible that _someone_ mis-observed." Snape said.

"I-." Tonks began.

"I fully trust Ms. Tonks' ability to process information. Her agility is another thing." Tonks hair went pink.

"Is it possible that he was injured at Hogwarts under the Dolores' term as _headmistress_?" Professor McGonagall said.

"She only had that Blood Quill." Ron said. The room went quiet once more. His eyes seemed to light up. "She was about to Crucii-."

Hermione slapped Ron's mouth and kept her hand there. Dumbledore looked at her with a very compressed way. She could see the anger boiling in his eyes even though it was not directed at her. "You will stay and give me a full account of what took place Ms. Granger."

Hermione nodded and removed her hand from Ron mouth, he pushed it away angrily. Hermione stared at the table.

Dumbledore turned to Mrs. Weasley. "It there anything else that we should know?" Dumbledore asked sharply.

"His eating habits." Hermione said. She could feel eyes boring into her downward cast head.

"What she's trying to say is that his eating habits are peculiar. He is much more subdued at the table than I have ever seen him before. He doesn't eat what anyone fixes for him. He has to fix his own food and drink, and he won't let another person touch it."

"I don't what's wrong with that." Moody growled.

"It's like he doesn't trust anyone, any more." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Smart kid." Moody added.

"And," She continued as though Moody had never spoken, "Other than some physical changes, I overheard him talk to Hermione after dinner yesterday. He said something about a 'Master'." Hermione stiffened in her seat angrily. She had been _spying_ on them.

Soon there was the feeling of someone staring at her intensely. With a sigh, but without moving her head, she spoke. "He spoke of a 'Master K', but when I asked he said 'I've been sworn to secrecy'." Hermione said in a small voice. She felt as though she were betraying Harry. _It could be for the best_.

"And his familiars."

"Those I was told about."

"Even about the snake being poisonous." Ron said.

"That was told to me after I was bitten." Dumbledore said. There were gasps. Hermione looked up as Dumbledore displayed a rather grotesque and vicious snake bite on his hand. "There _are_ snakes that do not prefer to be squeezed." He said with a sad smile.

"And you let him keep it!" Ron said. "What if-."

"It is his familiar, I was the one who touched and thereby invoked the snake, I take responsibility for my actions." Dumbledore said. "Luckily, Mr. Potter had several friends with phoenixes and enlisted their help. I've never seen, in all my days, a case with more than four vials of tears from different phoenixes, let alone twelve different vials and pictures to go with." There was disbelief in every person at the table, even Hermione. It was just impossible, and yet. . .

"Hem, hem," Hermione said clearing her throat, "where is Remus? I thought he would be here." Hermione said trying to change the subject.

"Remus is on a very special mission right now. One that involves Mr. Potter-."

"Harry's on a mission, so unfair." Ron moaned. (1)

"No, you imbecile." Snape sneered. Dumbledore gave Snape a look and he rolled his eyes at the ceiling.

"He should have been back by no- oh, Remus we were just talking about you two."

Harry's eyes did a quick scan of the room and his hands flew behind his back. Why was he always hiding his hands? (2)

"Harry, I. . . " Dumbledore started but was cut off by Harry.

"Professor, stick to the point. I have lost a little patience with you after last year." Harry said the shock of the Order. Some like Hermione, gasped. Dumbledore nodded sharply. What is wrong with him? Hermione saw Snape out of the corner of her eye. He looked as though he had been forced to eat lemons all of his life.

"Show some respect Potter, for once in your life." Harry leveled him with a slight smile. Others voiced their opinions right behind Snape. Dumbledore raised a hand and silence rang out immediately. Ron was in awe at the command Dumbledore had. Hermione was as well.

"Yes. I wanted to ask you if you would accept my invitation into the Order." Another hand silenced the further outbursts that threatened to barricade him. There was a brief pause before Harry spoke, looking Dumbledore directly in the eye.

"I do not accept your invitation, Professor. The Order of the Phoenix works to keep the Death Eaters in line by gathering information from _exposed sources_, which will lead you down a horrid path. I don't work with those of that nature. Besides, being a member of this Order means abiding by rules, and if you have a record of spells I used in the Ministry of Magic, you would know I don't abide by the rules." Harry spoke in a voice that Hermione remembered from breakfast. He swiftly left his chair and made his way towards the door. Harry and Dumbledore's eyes meet and a look passed between them. But it was over too quickly.

He turned and hissed something. His snake, that must have wrapped itself around the back of Harry's chair slithered from the room. Hermione looked around her at the others. Snape was pale and still looked like a 'lemon sucker'. Dumbledore's expression matched Snape's. Ron was surprised along with many others in the room. Hermione was too, she had always thought Harry looked up to Dumbledore. Suddenly, his words made sense to her.

"What does he mean by 'spells I used'? You don't think he used the Dark Arts?" Mrs. Weasley said in a sort of frantic voice. Hermione growled mentally, Mrs. Weasley had gotten the question out before her. If seemed as though Harry speaking to the snake had chilled everyone.

Remus gave a sigh. "Yes he did. He used the Cruciatus Curse on Bellatrix Lestrage." Remus said in a sad tone. Dumbledore gave him a very piercing look, and he continued. "I saw it in his pensieve, which by the way, I didn't know he had. I asked to see what he did this summer but he turned me down and nearly threw me out."

"I don't and won't believe that Potter used a Cruciatus Curse." Snape snarled. Some others nodded in agreement.

"I'm not asking you to believe me." Remus said indifferently. "Harry said as he _showed_ it to me that he wanted to cause her as much pain as he possibly could for what she had done to Sirius." His voice broke a little but he was back in seconds. "He laughed and said the curse hadn't gone as well as he had planned, but he said at least he stopped her from talking in her '_disgusting baby voice_'." Remus said sadly but with a small smile tugging at his lips. Hermione assumed that it was from the thought of Harry getting retribution, in some respect, and retaliating on Sirius' death.

There came a disbelieving snort from Snape's direction.

"I must go speak with him." Dumbledore said with urgency. He rose from his chair and Hermione saw his eyes link with those of Remus. A small tidbit of something flashed in their eye contact. Hermione wondered what it was about, all the while feeling that something was not right between the two. It, in a way, reminded Hermione of the looks that passed between Remus and Harry. _And between Harry and Dumbledore_, a voice in the back of her mind reminded her. (3)

Dumbledore left the room with a fast step. As soon as the door closed, discussions started up. Everyone was discussing whether or not Harry had gone dark. Hermione for the most part, and like some other rather tacit members, did not participate. Hermione, though, found it terribly hard not to respond to most of the comments being made. It got even harder when Ron joined the discussion.

"I say he is going dark." He said leaning back in his chair with a serious look on his face.

Instead of everyone babbling at the same time, one person spoke for them all. "On what evidence?" Ron smirked.

"Just look at what he has done in the past. . ." And he went on to describe some of the things Harry had done in the past, things that the media had been pressing the year before. Hermione found herself pondering on whether or not Harry was going dark. Suddenly, she gave herself a small shake and dismissed any thoughts that showed any betrayal to Harry. He was not going dark, she thought with conviction.

She tuned back into the conversation at hand when a fist hit the table. She turned and looked to find Tonks eyeing Ron with extreme dislike and anger. Her hair had turned a furious red.

"Harry may have done all of those things, but just like some of the things Dumbledore does to protect others, there are ignorant people like you who are ungrateful and find the simplest of fissures to point out after your arse has been saved."

"Tonks!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.

"It is a fact, Mrs. Weasley that Harry has saved Ron's butt many times, and how does he repay Harry, he slanders his name when he is supposed to be Harry's best-friend, besides Hermione."

Hermione was intrigued by this sudden protectiveness Tonks had over Harry. To a bystander it would that Tonks had known Harry before Hermione, Harry, and Ron had become friends. Hermione was intrigued with it as well as intimidated by it. How did it make her look if Tonks, someone who was not even that close to Harry, was sticking for him while she, Hermione, his best friend, was sitting by and watching. She opened her mouth to take the defense of Harry when a sudden boom followed by thumping and a crash interrupted her.

Half of the people in the room were up, armed, and out of the room before she had even registered the sounds. Hermione followed the example of the others and took out her wand before exiting the room. A cloud of dust hovered inside of the hallway. It was crowded and there was a brief moment of confusion before she began an Air Purifying charm. Others followed her example. The dust cloud was quickly receding and Hermione squinted through the stinging remnants for the cause of the ruckus. What she saw knocked the breath out of her lungs and froze her.

Harry stood on the stairs. His wand was aimed at Dumbledore, who was a few steps below him but almost matched his height, and sent spell after spell at the man. Others noticed it too, but Hermione was too focused on the scene before her to see their reactions. Dumbledore seemed to stick mainly to defensive spells, he rarely struck out at Harry with a spell but seemed to only shield and reflect the spells Harry sent.

Hermione felt a slight bustling occur behind her and turned to find several of the Order members with their wands pointed at Harry. A chill went through her. She heard the Stunning Spell being cast and yelled out a warning to Harry. A hand was roughly placed over her mouth but Harry had noticed already. Hermione pushed the hand, and its' owner away just in time to see Harry raise his wand and send some black, flame-like things at Dumbledore and point his wand at the incoming spells.

Hermione was momentarily blinded by a flash of red light and dropped to the ground as she saw the Stunners rebounding toward them. Several of the members fell victim to their own spells. Hermione turned back to the scene on the stairs, keeping to the floor, she didn't want to be caught unprepared by a spell.

Dumbledore conjured up desks out of thin air, which, once hit by the black, flame-like curse, deteriorated and left several piles of ash on the floor.

"Harry this will not solve anything." Dumbledore said. Harry sent more spells at him, some of which were visibly disturbing the others behind Hermione.

Hermione watched the display of magic with awe. She wondered where Harry had learned these new spells. It was obvious that he and Dumbledore were using very advance magic. She could not even recognize the effects of the spells. She might have been able to recognize a few if it weren't for the fact that they did not speak the incantations to the spells. But whilst being in awe at the spells Harry was using, she couldn't help but think of this scene as an act of stupidity. Harry was going up against the most powerful wizard of the century; he, a sixteen-year-old, taking on a man who has reached worldwide reverence.

She had a feeling that had Dumbledore intended to harm Harry, the scene would be taking a whole different light. Just as the thought entered her mind, Dumbledore flicked his wand at Harry and a purple spell flew toward Harry. Harry did not make an attempt to move or block the spell, he simply raised his hand and a shield, like the ones carried by the suits of armor at Hogwarts, appeared. Dumbledore stepped down a stair in surprise.

Harry swung the shield like a club at the spell. It ricocheted back toward Dumbledore in a blur. The professor barely had time to put up a shield. After he did so he shot a spell toward the second floor landing. Hermione noticed for the first time the bystanders watching from it. The twins and Ginny ducked as a glimmery shield shimmered into view in front of them.

Hermione shifted her attention to Harry. He was concentrating deeply, the veins in his forehead popping out slightly. Dumbledore turned to him in time to see the tip of Harry's wand glow a fiery-red. There was a moment when nothing happened. But Harry's eyes popped open, scaring Hermione. They were, in no other words, glowing. A spiked ball of black power flew at Dumbledore, and it had people behind her screaming. Dumbledore flicked his wand and the spell veered off course hitting the wall beside Harry and causing a miniature explosion. A shimmery shield, like the one Dumbledore had conjured earlier, appeared around him.

Dumbledore wasted no time and began chanting under his breath. Hermione felt a breeze waft through the hall. Then the breeze grew increasingly stronger and was whipping at her face and body from all directions. She was suddenly propelled forward by a gust of said wind. She wound up hitting some sort of barrier and the winds continued whipping pass not giving her the chance to protect herself.

Just as quickly as they had come, they were gone. Hermione peeled herself off the unknown barrier. She immediately looked for Harry. She saw, if there was a way to describe this, wind enclosing the fighting figure of her best friend. There was silence for a moment.

"This is going nowhere." Dumbledore said to himself, slightly out of breath but Hermione heard it anyway. He leaned wearily against the wall behind him.

"Headmaster!" Hermione heard someone behind her say worriedly.

"I'm taking a breather. It will not be long before he figures a way out." He turned sadly to the one who had inquired. "Remus, I think we might have lost Harry." No surprise there, Hermione thought. Dumbledore's eyes snapped to her and she looked away abashed.

"No, nothing's wrong with him." Remus said shakily, as if he were trying to convince himself as he set about trying to convince Dumbledore. Dumbledore's left eye twitched.

"Albus, take down his ward." Professor McGonagall said as she tried to get to the other side of the barrier.

"Not until I'm sure that no one will get hurt." He turned to Remus. "Ever spell that Harry just used. is considered the Dark Arts. Not one, except the shielding spells, were light in anyw-."

"It is not possible." Remus said quickly. "You and I know of Harry's importance in this war. He just can't be dark! If he is on Voldemort's side. . ." Remus shuddered.

"I hope it will not come to th-." His wand was suddenly pointed at the wind-chain that was surrounding Harry.

Hermione watched as a spot of fire appeared. The twirling winds carried the fire all around Harry's unseen body. Hermione screamed.

"He'll burn to death. Stop it!" She yelled at Dumbledore. The whole 'chain', as Hermione called it, was engulfed with flames.

"I'm not the one who is doing this, Ms. Granger." Dumbledore said softly, surprised by the scene.

The fiery winds began to veer off the course slightly. They stayed tightly around Harry. A hand poked through the fire. The winds, still in their circling cycle, shot out at Dumbledore suddenly. A gargantuan block of ice appeared in from of him. The winds circled around Harry like a chain. The 'links' hit the ice with a loud hiss. Moments later there was nothing left of the odd battle but ash piles, gaping holes in the walls, a large puddle of water, and a scorched staircase.

Harry waved his wand like a whip and an invisible force threw Dumbledore a few feet in the air landing in an undignified manner against his barrier. His wand now in Harry's hands. Harry approached him with a cold look on his face. He raised his wand at the Headmaster and swished it suddenly. Nothing happened. Harry put his wand away and looked around himself. He snapped his fingers and the wall repaired itself, the scorch marks, the puddle, and piles of ashes disappeared. The hall look as good as new.

Harry snapped his fingers again and the barriers the kept the bystanders from both floor safe, disappeared. Dumbledore lost his footing and fell against Moody. Harry tossed Dumbledore his wand, which slid across the floor and landed at the man's feet.

Harry walked toward the crowd which parted and let him through. He opened up the door and walked out. Hermione blinked and he was gone.

The rest of the night went by in a blur for Hermione. Dumbledore had forgotten his initial idea of questioning her and Ron on how Umbridge had treated Harry after the meeting. There was another meeting that night, it was one that Hermione and Ron were not invited to. She was made to sit for two whole hours while Ron raged on and on about Harry. She, of course, did not respond to his comments and that made him madder.

"I don't know why I even bother talking to you-."

"I don't know why you bother either." Hermione said getting up.

"What is your problem?" Ron asked angrily. He grabbed her shoulder.

"You're my problem. Ron where did this anger for Harry come from?" She asked, ending her sentence softly. He was unable to answer her question, she left the room.

She went to breakfast the next morning and Harry was not there. She saw Mrs. Weasley eye his empty seat his sadness. The rest of the Weasley, namely Ginny, Ron, and the twins, along with Moody and Tonks were there. She waited a few minutes and before eating her food, Harry still didn't come down.

"Tonks, why don't you-." Mrs. Weasley said, Tonks cut her off.

"He won't be there." Everyone looked at him. "I let him in this morning and he left a few minutes later." Harry took that moment to come into the room. "Dumbledore wanted-." Tonks said to him.

"I _spoke_ with him this morning." Harry said loosening up the stings that held his sweat pants tight. There were sweat stains on his T-shirt and he waved his wand at them and they disappeared.

"Harry dear, would you like some breakfast?" Mrs. Weasley asked, trying to get Harry to involve himself with the others at the table. Ron kept his head down and only looked up once in a while. Harry flashed her a smile devoid of happiness.

"Thank you for the offer, Mrs. Weasley, but I ate before I went out for my morning run. I fixed me and Tonks a small breakfast." Hermione's eyebrows rose at this.

"You can cook." She asked.

"I love to cook." Harry said with no emotion showing. He began to exit the room until Mr. Weasley, after receiving a look from Mrs. Weasley, spoke.

" 'Morning run'?" He repeated. "You exercise Harry?" He asked off the top of his head. Harry's fake smile faltered a bit but stayed in effect.

"There is no need to _embellish_ me. I already know that Dumbledore told you to get as much information out of me as possible." The adults in the room were stunned. "AS for your first question; it is obvious but yes, I do run. Master Kauwn believed that I should keep up with my daily exercise. Even though I'm not under his hawk-like eye I still do it. It helps clear my mind and helps me think." He swept from the kitchen before any other questions or comments could be made.

Mrs. Weasley told Dumbledore of the conversation with Harry. He promised to look into the 'Master Kauwn' thing.

To Hermione the house almost returned to normal. There was still the problem of Harry but some tried to overlook it. Hermione had cornered Harry many times and tried to get him to talk to her but nothing worked, he always found some way to dodge her questions and sometimes, her.

A few days after the conversation, Hermione came down the stairs on the way to the kitchen only to find everyone, with the noticeable exception of Harry and Mrs. Weasley, standing outside of the closed door. Ginny who was wearing a slightly transparent shirt, exposing most of her bra, beckoned Hermione over to her.

She and Ginny were the closest of friends now. They told each other everything. Ginny knew of her attraction to Harry and Hermione knew of Ginny's attraction to guys in Quidditch uniform. They had redecorated and refurbished the house, under the surveillance of Mrs. Weasley and with the approval of Remus of course. Remus liked it and thanked them many times for making the house feel like a home, he only wished Kreacher would leave. With all of the unneeded work Remus put him through because of his association in Sirius' death.

"What's going on?" She asked as she approached Ginny. Everyone else seemed to be disturbed. Ginny was leaning against the doorframe, acting as though she had just seen a ghost.

"He- Harry's in there." Ginny replied breathlessly. "And he-." Hermione cut her off.

"It that why everyone's out here!" She turned, approached the door preparing to throw it open and Ginny gave a soft but pointed "don't." Hermione was not listening, she threw open the door.

She immediately wished that she hadn't. Mrs. Weasley and Tonks were cooking in the background, but that wasn't what had caught her attention the most. Harry was inside with another person, a slightly younger person - no - version of Harry. The kid was only lacking the infamous scar, the emerald eyes, and the black hair.

Hermione noticed the stances both were in. They were _fighting_! She was going to stop them when she heard Harry giving the boy advice while he was blocking the hits.

"Crouch lower so you can balance you legs, keep control of your knees."

"I am!" The boy said frustrated.

"Bend your knees then! Don't strain you elbow. You're pulling back too far. _Faster_." The boy followed his directions. "Left punch. Right punch. Left again. Knee kick, don't retract. Kick out. Left kick. Right punch. . ." It went on faster and faster.

Hermione watched stunned, Harry was teaching the boy - guy, more likely fourteen or fifteen years old - to fight. They both weren't wearing shirts! Hermione took a moment or two to gaze at Harry's abs and she noticed that the other guy had some incoming abs as well. Absentmindedly, she took a sharp intake of breath and it alerted the others of their audience.

"Let's go Matt, we can finish in the backyard." Harry said reaching around Tonks for two apples and threw one to the blonde guy. Tonks turned and a look passed between them.

"All right but please, please, let Seli do the judging of how well my hits range. You always rate too low." The guy, who as Hermione got a better look could not be younger than fifteen, said.

"What! Well, I've never been more insulted in my life. Between me and Master K, I score very high." Both boys flinched on their way to the door.

"I had one lesson with than man and I wanted to go into a Never-Ending sleep. I don't know how you spent a whole two years with him. I..." And their voices grew lower as they made their way into the backyard.

"Who was that?" Remus asked. He turned to the blushing Ginny. "You still have a crush on Harry! Is that why you kept us outside, because Harry was shirtless?" Ginny growled at him, but avoiding Hermione's eyes.

She took a seat a few places away from Hermione as Mrs. Weasley served the food she and Tonks had been cooking. "I don't have a crush on _Harry_!" She rolled her eyes and glared at her plate.

"Sure you don't dear." Mrs. Weasley said with an obvious wink to everyone else at the table.

Remus laughed slightly, alarming everyone. "I wonder who the kid is. He couldn't be more than a year younger than Harry! Have you seen him at school?" Hermione, Ginny and Ron shook their heads.

"Let's _not_ try to find out, I've finally got Harry to open up to me. I don't want to screw that up." Tonks said sitting down. She shared a glance with Remus and Mrs. Weasley. Why was everyone doing that lately? For some reason Hermione got a bad feeling from that thought.

"What did he say?" Hermione asked suddenly. She blushed when three of them turned to look at her.

Tonks looked nervous all of the sudden. She started making odd motions with her mouth. At last she stopped but began stuffing her face with food in a very non-ladylike manner. Mrs. Weasley turned her nose up at Tonks bad mannerisms.

Taking her time chewing, she bought herself time. Finally she spoke, He said a lot and then some." She poured herself some juice. Her words made Hermione even more curious but smartly she held her tongue. "He said some things. . . Hermione do you remember the phrase about a man's foot size compared to his. . ."

Tonks left the sentence opened. There was an eerie lull at the table of which everyone's attention shifted to Hermione who was too stunned for words. Her mind had frozen completely. She barely noticed the inquisitive and frightened looks the Weasleys and Lupin were giving her. Suddenly, she was snapped out of her perplexed stated by a sharp intake of breath from Lupin. Realization had dawned upon him and he looked to Tonks, appalled.

"Please tell me you did not do what I think you did." He said pleadingly. Tonks nodded her head. "How could you, he's only a child. . ." He stopped himself and took a completely different tone with her. "What did he say?"

"Will one of you tell us what's going on?" Mrs. Weasley asked fearfully.

Lupin scooted over to her and whispered in her ear. Mrs. Weasley went red with anger, she turned to Tonks, looking as if she could just jump over the table and throttle Tonks. Tonks did the only thing one could do in her situation other than run; she cowered and covered her ears. But for some reason she kept looking at Hermione. Hermione knew that whatever Mrs. Weasley would say to Tonks, would not even compare to what Hermione wanted to do to her. What Tonks had done was unspeakable! She had slept with Harry. Hermione's Harry.

"YOU DID WHAT! HOW COULD YOU, YOU - Y- YOU _HARLOT_!" Other than the gasps, the table went quiet as Tonks slowly brought her hand down from her ears. She was literally shaking, and looked beyond angry.

Hermione knew then and there that this was going to be an all out war, Lupin who probably figured the same, held the image of a kid in a candy shop.

"EXCUSE ME FOR GETTING SOME _MAJOR_ INFORMATION OUT OF HIM _MOLLY_!" Her features darkened. The Weasleys gasped at the use of their matron's name. By now everyone either knew what had happened or at least had the general picture. Before Mrs. Weasley could respond, Harry and the nameless young guy came back in.

Hermione inferred immediately that they had been working out hard. They had on T-shirts that were literally drenched in sweat and clung to them like an extra set of skin. Harry carried his pet snake in his hand, and the blond was tugging at his shirt.

"It's too hot to be out outside, I t-." The blond who was in the middle of a sentence, stopped speaking abruptly.

Harry looked quickly around the table. He made eye contact with Mrs. Weasley and Remus before he spoke. "What's wrong Tonks?" Harry asked quickly. Hermione could tell that his immediate defense of Tonks was taken in an offensive manner to Mrs. Weasley. Hermione didn't like it either. If it were she and Tonks going at it, whose side would Harry take? Before she ponder on the question, Tonks spoke.

"_I_ was telling _Hermione_ what happened last night and what you told me when _she_ butts in and calls me a harlot." Tonks said like a child pleading innocence. Harry's snake hissed something and Harry responded back nonchalantly. It erected itself and strung from Harry's hands to the blond's shoulder. Surprising to Hermione, the blond hissed something to the snake and took off through the door to the hallway.

Harry turned to Mrs. Weasley. They made eye contact for a moment before Harry spoke. " Mrs. Weasley, name calling is something that I know a lot about as well as many others. And, along with these many others, I know it causes long-lasting effects. I know sometimes that it might seem right to let out your emotions and watch how it hurts the other person. _You_ may feel fulfilled but in retrospect, your comment may scar the person mentally and emotionally, sometimes as far as them seeking to harm you in other ways. So, please, think twice before you call someone a name that might impel them into thinking and or causing you harm." Harry said in a parenting voice that Hermione did not know he had. Mrs. Weasley was speechless.

Hermione noticed that the whole kitchen was quiet once again. Mrs. Weasley, who had never seemingly been chastised for doing something wrong, was shocked and abashed but for once, at herself. The Weasleys were far from shocked to the brink of being scared. Rarely, very rarely, had anyone seen or heard the Matron Molly Weasley being chided. Mrs. Weasley opened her mouth to speak but Harry cut her off.

"Yes, I know that what Tonks and _I_ did was wrong, but that's a problem between the _two_ of us. You're still like a second mother to us," Tonks was going to speak but a look from Harry stopped her, "though Tonks might have to get over the name-calling bit first." His voice softened. "All good mothers have to exhale sometime and give their children the space the grow. Besides, what _we_ did was only a one night thing, it is not going to evolve into anything. She was looking for information, even though she had _interesting_ ways of getting them." Harry said raising his eyebrows and looking at the blushing Tonks.

There was thumping in the room above the kitchen. Harry looked up and shook his head in disbelief. "I better go and stop those two from arguing; snakes don't give up that easily, and neither does Matt." He left the kitchen in a running sort of stride. Tonks broke the silence; she let out a thankful sigh.

"I just love the way he puts words together, don't you, Molly?" Wisely, Mrs. Weasley ignored her. "Well, anyway, I'm just happy he isn't looking for one of those. . . those. . ."

"_Relationships_." Mr. Weasley offered, laughing at Tonks' hesitation at saying the word. He stopped when Mrs. Weasley glared at him.

"Yeah those, I hate it when guys want those and I don't." She gave Remus a piercing look.

The rest of the conversation was lost on Hermione. Harry did not want what she'd dreamed of him wanting. Her world seemed to be breaking apart right from underneath her. Now, to her, nothing seemed worth waiting for, worth living for, and she drifted away from the world. But she mainly drifted away from her old self.

_Unknown POV_

Harry noticed the change and began plans for improvement.

_**Author's Notes:**_

**_(1)Ron is not going to have a huge role in this fic, he will be playing small parts though._**

**_(2)If you can figure this out than, I think I might cry. (Which is not a pretty sight)_**

**_(3)You have to figure this out._**

**_On with the notes. I have been away from for a while. I have the finished project of this story and chapters to other stories on a laptop that won't allow me to remove the data. So I'm retyping it onto a new computer I've received for Christmas. This turned out to be a blessing, in a way. I've begun to engross myself further into the works and found horrible mistakes. I have to delete a story I place on a while ago because I was, simply, unreadable. _I_ couldn't make heads or tails of it._**

_**As for this fic, if you find anything wrong with it, constructive criticism please, please don't hesitate to say it. Feel. . . encouraged to do so.**_

_**G of the K,W,G,T,B**_


	2. Learning and Loving

_**Learning and Loving **_

_**Sunday the 21th**_

Hermione sat on the couch in the den. Her was mind packed with thoughts and her face was portraying them. Her mind was a complete and total mess. No coherent thought could be brought forth and probed. Her eyes gazed forward at the fireplace with a dead-like expression. No precise feeling could be found anywhere on her face. She sat straight-backed and stiff, she did not even lean back onto the couch.

She sat there as though she were in a coma. The fire in the fireplace cast unusual shadows on her features. Her stony expression looked very mysterious in the light. She had sat there - for Heaven knows how long - and did nothing. She did not even know how long she had been sitting there, granted that there was even a clock above the mantle and her back was facing it. She sat as if stunned by some great act of magic or power. Her outside appearance did little to help any outsider, if they happened to notice her, to figure out if there was something wrong with her. There was something wrong with her but that did not mean she had to tell everyone.

She could not count how many times someone had asked her, "Hermione, are you all right" or her now personal favorite, "What's the matter, dear". And she really did not care to count or respond at all in fact; all she knew was that her heart was broken into shards. And since the day Harry said what he said, and did what he had done, and even before that, Hermione had never felt the way she felt right now. She felt so heart-broken. She felt as though she would never be happy again. She felt as she did when there were Dementors around.

She would have given anything to be in Harry's arms, to snuggle with him before they went to sleep in his bed. She would have given anything to be happy again. But she knew it was out of the question now that Harry had slept with Tonks.

For the first time in days, her brain allowed her to capture a memory that stung her into motion. And for the first time in days, her emotions were allowed access to her face. For the first time in days, she actually felt an emotion that was not depression. This specific memory brought up more emotions than she could handle. So many that she wanted to cry. The memory of Harry in the kitchen, confessing his and Tonks' '_activities_' rekindled itself and the emotions that with it.

She remembered with disgust Harry's immediate defense of Tonks and chastising of Mrs. Weasley. Envy, as Harry made public his and Tonks secret. She felt anger at Tonks for turning and using Harry. She felt horrified at the thought of losing Harry. Questions that she had asked herself once before returned to her and she pondered on them.

If it had been she and Tonks going at it instead of Tonks and Mrs. Weasley, would Harry have stood up for Tonks still? She denied it at first. But, then she remembered how Harry had scolded Mrs. Weasley. The way he spoke to her, as though she had committed wrong, was outrageous. But nevertheless, she had to at least admire the words that went into the speech. The reprimanding and threatening manner in which he spoke, Hermione had noticed it, probably flew right over the heads of those in the kitchen that day.

She realized immediately that even though Harry said he didn't want a relationship, that he had taken a protective guardianship and instinctive defense over Tonks. He had taken the same guardianship and instinctive protectiveness that was usually depicted in relationships. Similar to that in which he had for Hermione, and yet, more advanced than his with Hermione.

She remembered how Harry had said to Mrs. Weasley that the wrong he and Tonks committed was between the two of them. She remembered the emotionand emphasishe put into the '_two_' and how he excluded her and Ron from his summer activities. He still hadn't told them what had happened. Maybe their friendship was going; maybe he wanted it to go.

She slipped more and more into her depression with those assumptions. Depression of how Harry didn't want her. How he didn't want her friendship. So deep was the depression that she was not aware of what was happening around her. So strong was the depression that it blinded her eyes from truth; so pure was it that ever so often, whether it be her in bed or on that couch that she so thoroughly marked as hers, she thought of ending her life. (1)

Now, throughout all of this, things that used to make her squeak out of excitement, now made her want to cry. Everything she had done since her coming to Hogwarts, since the beginning of her, Harry, and Ron's friendship, revolved around them. They revolved mostly around Harry. For many a time her knowledge had saved Harry. She had saved Harry and what does he do to repay her… (2)

She was drowning so deep in her own misery and self-pity that she failed to notice others going into their own depressions over her. Although some did not know the reason for the depression, Hermione's behavior managed to effect others, heavily.

She had been considering whether the others believed that the death of Crookshanks finally had caught up with her. Her pumpkin-colored kitty that she had protected for three years. That had protected her. The kitty she would love to her last breath. The same cat that was tortured and hung on a pole in front of her house, she had never known death until then. Her parents kept her eliminated from Aunts, Uncles, and cousins, so she knew nothing of neither their nor their families' brushes with death. She did not know who was responsible for the horrid murder of her only familiar or why they did what they did, but she knew she missed him terribly.

Hermione health was deteriorating. Nonetheless, she did not know of her now feeble and severe condition. She rarely left her room, or the room she deemed as hers when she arrived a few weeks, and even at those times was only to take a bath or eat while everyone else was sleep. Nevertheless, the couch in the living room still held her at most times. She ran into very few people when she did leave her room. She caught sneaking into Lupin's bedroom at six o'clock in the morning of that very day. She had forgiven now Tonks, or at least, forget about what she had done. And now she knew that Tonks and Lupin were seeing each other, which made her forget about Harry and Tonks seeing each other.

That eased her sorrow somewhat. But now she had proof of Harry not wanting a relationship and that made her sick. Sick to the point of not wanting to leave her room at all. She cried herself to sleep that night woke up before anyone else did, used the restroom, washed up and ate before going back to her room and crying herself to sleep again.

It was now midnight, Hermione made her way down the hall. Her footsteps were as silent as Crookshanks used to be. She opened the oven and pulled out the meal Mrs. Weasley left for her under a preservation charm. If she ever felt like talking again, she would thank Mrs. Weasley for making the food, and also for not pressuring her to eat with the others.

She sat at the table in the moon lit kitchen. She dared not to turn the light on, for it could attract unwanted attention. She didn't want to be around the inhabitants of the house just yet. She didn't want their sympathy. After all, Ron had tried that very morning and nearly got clocked with _Hogwarts, A History_. For the first time in weeks, Hermione-depressed-Granger laughed. She laughed at her dim-witted friend. The chicken she was eating came out of her mouth. Hermione quickly wiped it up with a napkin she had grabbed when she got her plate.

She had just taken a bath and did not want to be getting dirty so soon. If she did not care about her health, she was always dead serious about her personal hygiene, even in depression. She grabbed the discarded chicken and tossed it on the floor for Crookshanks to get… After she remembered that her cat was buried sixteen inches under her mother's garden, she picked up the twice-discarded chicken and tossed it into the garbage.

As she ate, she wondered how Harry got over Sirius' death so quickly She knew everyone missed him a lot, judging how Remus and Tonks _comforted _each other. But Harry had come back expressionless and emotionless. She wondered if Harry turned the way that he was now because of Sirius' death. Oh, how she missed the old, shy and readable Harry, she thought to herself.

That 'Harry' would have been like putty in her hands. She could have molded and shaped him the way she wanted him. She could have had her way with him, without him being confident enough to go after Tonks. He really should not have to after Tonks; she was as easy as _butter_. Hermione snarled into her peas.

She was about to go through a line of curses when she suddenly realized how she truly felt. She wasn't depressed, maybe a little depressed and angry, but what she really felt was jealousy. She was definitely shocked. She dropped her fork as realization crept over. She groaned in exasperation at her silly stupidity. Her _depression _was nothing but shock and jealousy for Tonks.

She had to talk to someone. One thing that she remembered telling Harry was that talking always helped ease the pain. In her case there was a lot of pain and emotions that she had to let out. She had to talk to someone but whom?

Mrs. Weasley would just mother her to death. Dumbledore was a possibility, but after how he had treated Harry a two weeks ago… Plus, with school being only two weeks away and Dumbledore being headmaster, she didn't want her Prefect badge taken away for a small slip up or saying something inappropriate to him. Ginny would get all sour, Hermione believed she still had a small crush on Harry. Tonks was definitely out as well as Ron and most of the males she knew. That left only one person.

**Harry**

She sighed and rose from her seat with her plate in hand. She walked over to the sink and rinsed out her plate while watching the moon beaming in through the window. She poured herself a cup of milk to take with her. If she was going to talk to Harry she might as well have something to drink. And though she would never mention it to Mrs. Weasley, the chicken was a little dry.

Mrs. Weasley would probably take it as an insult to either her magic capabilities or her cooking abilities and that was something Hermione did not need. She might be in a _depression_ but she still needed food.

She walked from the kitchen but stopped once she heard footsteps coming towards her in the opposite direction. Through the darkness of the house she saw a medium, yet almost as big as her, figure. Though it did take her a while to remember that there was someone in the house that 'small', other than Ginny. The nameless guy that Harry brought with him, the one that spoke to the snake. (3)

A great instinct of hers told her to go forward. She put down her milk on a table she never knew was there and pulled her pajama robe over her undergarments. As Hermione edged forward, guided by the small light of the moon coming from the kitchen, she heard the ragged breathing and hoarse exhaling made by the guy at the bottom of the stairs. The mysterious destruction of Mrs. Black was greatly appreciated as she moved pass the curtains that reeked of smoke and ash.

She pulled her wand from pocket and cast an advanced lighting charm on the hallway. Special privileges for being part of the Order, even if it's a small sit-in part. The bright light caused the guy to shield his eyes. Hermione dimmed the light somewhat. The guy looked up at her. He seemed as if he wanted to say something but decided against it. He stepped out of the light and while he was doing so Hermione caught teardrops glistening on his face. He turned and began down the hall and Hermione stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder. She pulled gently.

"Stop, _please_, what's wrong?" His hand moved to remove hers. Hermione noticed he had a wand. Who _is_ this guy?

"I'm going to help Harry." He tried going passed her again. Hermione could tell that the guy was stronger than her but was with-holding his strength. She suddenly caught his words.

"Wait, Harry's in trouble? What kind of trouble?" Her heart was pounding into her ribs; her adrenaline was pounding, wanting and waiting for release.

Why do these kinds of things only happen to me? Hermione asked herself. Right when she needs Harry he gets into some trouble.

She brought her attention back to the guy before her. He was pulling away from her. She could tell he was holding back on his strength greatly. Still, who was this guy and how did he and Harry know each other? She would remember if Ginny told her about this sky-blue eyed, dirty-blond haired guy from school.

Suddenly the guy smiled, Hermione felt slightly perturbed about it. The hair on her neck stood up, as it did when someone stood behind her or was watching her. Just then a great sense of foreboding came over her. But, by then it was too late. Darkness clouded her vision.

When she awoke she found herself in a room with red and white colors. She found herself unbound and free. Her wand was left next to her. And for some dreaded reason the room felt homey and familiar. Her focus landing of the wall in front of her. There was a poster that was vaguely familiar to Hermione. There was just something about it. It was a picture of guys wearing orange and flying on broomsticks…

_The Cannons_. It was the poster of Ron's favorite team. She was in Ron's room? Why would she be in there? Then one again the texture of the room caught her attention. Ron had put the poster in it while it was being decorated.. It was not Ron's room it was Harry's room! She had painted this room herself. Hermione noticed, also, that the room had been expanded to fit a second bedroom into it. There was a replica bed, a dresser, and a night stand next to the one Hermione had placed in there.

The opening of the door startled Hermione out of her thoughts. She grabbed her wand immediately and focused it on the person coming through the door. It was Harry. Hermione's spirit was lifted and at the same moment went dark. She began to study in detail what she remembered before she was knocked out. She remembered the nameless guy, how he smiled all of a sudden and how everything went suddenly dark.

"Who are you and what have you done with Harry?" She asked looking around for the nameless guy just in case they tried to launch another one of their surprise attacks. The believed imposter sat on Harry's bed.

"Don't move so quickly, the potions won't settle." He said in a calm tone. Hermione gasped.

**Potions!**

What potions was he talking about? She didn't remember taking any potions. They must have given it to her while she was asleep. She dreaded to think of what potions they gave her. The number of poisons there were in the Wizarding World was utterly unprecedented. She looked at herself for any signs of poisoning. She expected to see herself as she was since the _depression_, what she saw shocked her. Since the depression she had pale and skinny arms, now they were the direst opposite. She watched as the imposter conjured a mirror in front of her. Once again she gasped.

She looked exactly like she did before the depression sat in, heck, she looked as good as she did before Crookshanks died. She looked over to the imposter to see him looking at her with ease. She realized then that she had lowered her wand. She raised it again.

"Why did you do that? Where is Harry?" She asked fearfully again. The imposter smiled and spoke.

"I had to get Mrs. Weasley's permission, but with Matt's help we did it. And I am Harry." He said with a laugh. He began to speak again but she cut him off.

"You're not Harry. Harry would never hurt a friend…"

" 'Harry' would not hurt a friend, unless, it would help them." He said cutting her off this time. "Besides, I didn't hurt you, not that I didn't want to. What drove you to let yourself go like that? Wait. Don't answer that question. Anyway, I did what I did to help you." He said still smiling.

"Help me! Help me with what?" Though she knew the answer, she prayed that Harry did not. That smile brightened for a moment before going back to its' normal crooked grin. _Oh crap_, thought Hermione.

She didn't realize that she had stood up. She started to walk to the door. If this person were Harry they would not force her to do anything else.

"Whatever caused the depression. I have a guess but I'm not sure." Harry with a shrug of the shoulders.

"What's the guess?" She knew it was Harry now, the same old clueless-about-girls Harry; there was a slight hysteria going through her, along with fear. Fear that Harry realized what the depression was really about and what had caused the shock and the jealousy.

"No need to fret over my little guess." Harry in a laughing tone of voice. Yet, there was a sense of knowing in his words that she didn't like. "You may go if you like, I expect there are many books that you might want to read in the library." She edged towards the door. This all seemed too easy. She's barely touched the knob on the door when Harry called out to her, she knew it had been too easy.

"Hermione. If this happens again, next time I will not be nice." Harry said sounding serious. Hermione glowered down at him with an unnerving glare.

"And what would you do to me, Mr. Potter?" She said in a very McGonagall tone. Harry waved off the threatening voice, and spoke. He smirked a rather evil smirk. He looked her over.

"I could and would make you scream Ms. Granger, so don't tempt me." Hermione's eyes went wide and she felt her cheeks heat up. Harry laughed at her embarrassment before falling gracefully on his back, on his bed. Hermione walked out of the room in a daze but with one thing on her mind: when and why had Harry gotten so confident.

**_I thought about stopping right here but I'll go on._**

**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! I love criticism, if it's meaningful and creative.**

**WARNING FOLLOW SCENE CONTAINS SEXUAL CONTENT: RAPE, SEX, FOUL LANGUAGE. **

**You can skip this scene if you want. It's not that important, just hit Ctrl+F and type 'dream' in the 'find on this page' box, it should take you to the end of this scene. You can right-click after this sentence as well, and find the 'find on this page' thing.**

**ONCE MORE A WARNING FOLLOW SCENE CONTAINS SEXUAL CONTENT: RAPE, SEX, FOUL LANGUAGE. **

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_Hermione woke in her room to the sounds of scurrying feet along with muffled and murmuring voices. She, on instinct, reached for her wand on the bedside table. It was there, meaning she was in her bed at Grimmauld Place. She prepared to cast an illumination charm. She stopped herself, not wanting to bring to much attention towards herself._

_She edged herself out of the bed and towards her door. She gasped inwardly at the smell of smoke and burning flesh. It smelled as if she were in a human roasting pit! The smell itself was bewildering but along with the fact she felt no heat whatsoever…_

_She opened the door to a slightly disarrayed hall. It looked as though a twister had rampaged through the house. Mostly everything was broken. The first thought that came to her was that Grimmauld Place was under attack. Yet she heard no spells or yelling. Doors were opened and had disgusting noises, unusual lights and smells seeping from them. She looked around for any sign of opposition towards the attackers, whoever they were. She found herself wondering who could be attacking with Dumbledore being the secret-keeper._

Dumbledore

_Her heart fluttered with relief and wonderment. But then the smell of burning flesh flashed against her senses, she pondered over it. Where was Dumbledore, and how had the attackers, she still did not know who they were, gotten in?_

_The _swish_ of a cloak caught the corner of her eye. Something black was moving into a bedroom down the hall. Three fearful things appearing in her mind. One and two, they were being attacked by either Dementors or Death Eaters, or perhaps both. 'Both' was more likely since Voldemort would probably send out both at the same time to cause more damage. And, Three was, the room the Death Eater or Dementor had just rushed into was deemed as Sirius'. Which meant Harry was in trouble._

_If anything she had learned in the DA last year was present in her mind, she would and should have known to watch her back. The smell of burning human flesh increased around her to the point where she was beginning to get choked up. A hand covered her mouth from behind and another held a wand at her throat. Her eyes went wide and she began to shake out of fright._

_"Aw, look. I get my own little play toy." A disgustingly croaky, masculine voice said from behind her. She began to convulse. He spoke a word and something spread over her body. Her eyes went even wider till they felt as though they were popping out. Her mind was still operating but her body had gone limp. Her mind was not receiving any signals from her body, nor could it send any._

_She felt herself being dragged. She could neither move nor was she able to speak. In coincidence she found herself familiar with the texture of the room. She had not decorated it, even though half of the house was her 'creation'. But she had been there when Ginny, who decorated the other half of the house, created it. It was supposed to have been a guestroom, but Ginny had turned it into, with Remus' (who owns the house due to Sirius' will) permission, a museum of teddy bears. There was still a bed much to Hermione's distress._

_She was shoved viciously upon the said bed. The Death Eater shredded himself of his robes and mask. Much to Hermione's disgust, man had only boxers underneath, dirty and tattered, boxers. Hermione tried, though with no prevail, to break free of the curse. She began to cry even though the Death Eater, who if noticed, did not care.  
_

_With a flick of the wand that was held so strongly in the hands of the Death Eater, Hermione was left in only her panties. He started to grope her breast in a disgusting animalistic manner. He smiled devilishly at her and her body. Hermione cried furiously as her panties were discarded. He had a hungry look on his face that told her not only was this going to disgusting and painful for her, but sensuous him._

_He pulled down his filthy and ragged boxers. Hermione tried in vain to cower against the bed. Though she had seen 'one' before, that was a guy who was only of fifteen or sixteen, who she had walked in on 'pleasuring' himself in a public bathroom with an unlocked door,'it' did not compare to this one. In other words, he was extremely large. Hermione wondered how it was going to fit, knowing the Death Eater would not care if would fit or not._

_The fact that he looked and smelled as though he had not taken a bath in years made Hermione want to throw up. In fact, if her mouth could only be opened and he was a little bit closer she would have enjoyed throwing up on him. He crept closer…_

_He looked as hard as a rock and Hermione knew she was going to kill herself tomorrow out of pain, if he hadn't already done the job. She smelled the air again and wished to the almighty heavens that she hadn't. The smell of him was nauseating. He reeked of a smell Hermione would classify only as gruesome. At first she sought the smell of burning fleshed that seemed to smell like flowers compared to him, but then she remembered what exactly was causing that smell._

_Hermione noticed the spell on her was wearing out. The Death Eater pinned her against the bed. Like he was really going to let her get away, she thought to herself And the spell was still in effect, Hermione then added, it was wearing out though. Besides, she thought, he had a wand and she didn't. If she could only find the wand that he took from her, she could take care of him._

_The Death Eater was positioning himself, she saw, and felt slightly, him shove her legs apart and nudge the head of his cock to her entrance. She felt the spell wearing out tremendously. She moved her toes whilst watching the Death Eater. If he had noticed her change of expression, he didn't show it. He smiled at her with yellow and half-broken teeth._

_He shifted himself and Hermione prepared herself to move bodily out of the way of the attack. Hermione caught a wild glint in his eye while he blew her a kiss and thrust forward with all of his might. Hermione moved, he fell on top of her and she screamed as loud as she could. She tried to stand up but couldn't. She vaguely realized that he was cursing and moaning out of pain. She could feel the man shifting up. She weakly pushed him off of her and jumped off the bed. She tried to get out of the room but she was too slow, the spell had messed with her nerves. (4)_

_The Death Eater found the wand Hermione had knocked off the bed and pointed it at her. She froze up. She knew there was no way she could make it out of that room alive. And even if she had, there was bound to be a lot of other Death Eaters around to capture her again. He shouted a spell and Hermione fell bonelessly to the floor._

_She abhorred the fact that she remained conscious. He picked her up and threw her on the bed again. She wished that she could sleep through this and never wake up. She closed her eyes and prayed. Something she did almost regularly._

_Once again she felt the head of his pulsing cock at her entrance. He must really want to cause me as much pain as possible, Hermione thought. She felt the bed shift and squinted her eyes close as she prepared for the attack. She was shaken out of her thoughts by someone throwing open the door and saying a spell that knocked her attacker unconscious. This, however, did little to help the impact of the Death Eater's attack._

_Hermione screamed a silent scream as her savior pulled the Death Eater out and off of her. He tossed the Death Eater like he was trash, which he was. Her rescuer turned to face her and she gasped._

_Brown eyes met emerald. Hermione found herself embarrassed at her predicament and at being caught spread and naked on a bed. She didn't want her best friend to see her this way. Harry threw a counter-curse at her allowing her mobility. She quickly began to cover herself up, but mostly between her legs and her chest, when Harry told her to stop._

_"Never cover up what is beautiful." She gasped as her whole body went hot and red. Hermione noticed that Harry seemed to be struggling with himself. Suddenly he smiled a loving smile and stepped forward._

_"AVADA KEDRAVA," A voice said from the floor. Green light blasted from a wand towards Harry. She saw the Death Eater Harry saved her from had stood up. She had completely forgot about the fallen Death Eater. She watched as the happy, sad, shocked, relieved, and lustful eyes of Harry Potter glaze over as death took him._

_She did the only thing someone in her position would do, she screamed…_

_**Dream Over**_

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"AHHHHHHHHHHH." (5)

Hermione screamed as she woke from the nightmare that seemed so real to her. Her blankets were covered in sweat and stuck to her like a second layer of skin. Yet she continued to scream.

Though it took her a little while to convince herself that it was just a dream. She was still having a hard time forcing herself to believe that she was not still dreaming and fully expected that Death Eater to come bursting in the bedroom, dirty and horny. She shivered against the wet sheets.

She thanked heavens for Mrs. Weasley putting silencing charms on the wall of each room when everyone began complaining about the screaming of Mrs. Black. It worked only to keep sounds from getting into the hallway, from the hallway any noise made will be heard. She did not want anyone to come bursting in her room.

**Harry**

She scrambled out of bed. Never minding her lack of attire. As she reached the door, she expected to see destruction and smell burning flesh. It was absent.

"It was just a dream," she whispered to herself.

She still shuddered. The atmosphere of her room no longer held comfort. Once again she welcomed the thought to go see Harry. She quickly left her room, barefooted and in a cloak that she had managed to grab on her way out. She felt her way through the hall. A drift of cool air caught her, urging her faster to her destination.

She knocked. It was a simple operation, yet it took a lot of soul and courage. After a little while and no Harry appearing at the door, Hermione knocked a bit louder. She stopped in mid-knock as she thought about what she was doing.

If she knocked any louder, she would wake the inhabitants of the nearby rooms. Since the silence charms were only one-sided, her knocking would wake them up quickly. Mrs. Weasley was only able to take one side of the silencing charms down when Mrs. Black had been destroyed. Hermione believed this had something to do with the noises that seemed to come for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's room being heard by others. Thinking on her toes, which she was known for doing, she quickly and quietly entered into her room. A shiver went down her spine as she saw Harry while he was sleeping.

With the moonlight gleaming praises on his handsome, model-like face, Hermione dropped the cloak she was wearing in the hall. She gasped at the elegance his face held; the kindness and maturity shone deeply on his Adonis-like face. She thought he looked beautiful in the morning; that did not even compare to how he looked when he was resting.

He looked so peaceful. Which was much more welcomed than the chastising face he put on for Mrs. Weasley. And ten-times better than the anger his face had held for Dumbledore. Hermione trembled at the memory. What had Dumbledore ever done to deserve such hatred, she did not know.

She closed the door, she did not realize she had opened it, till she heard footsteps coming towards the room. She quietly scurried over Harry's bed and climbed in without waking Harry up. The footsteps outside the room stopped for a second and then they moved on. Hermione, who didn't realize she had been holding her breath, released it loudly.

What happened afterwards, happened so quickly, Hermione didn't know what struck her. She could only gasp as there was someone on top of her with a wand and a knife pressed to her throat and chest. Her wide eyes looked into the now ruthless ones of Harry.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Harry demanded in a deep and tired sort of tone. There was a sparkle coming from his left hand but she ignored it. Hermione's shock wore off quick as she remembered the self-defense classes she had taken with her mother.

She flipped positions, with her now being on top; she grabbed the knife along with the wand pointed at her and wrenched them out of Harry's hands. He reached to get them but she sat on his stomach. His hard stomach, she acknowledged.

"How dare to turn a knife and a wand on me Harry Potter!" She said and, for a reason unknown to her, she cried. "I came in here for help and you turn a…" The rest of her response was muffled as Harry pressed his lips to hers.

She felt something that she could not describe. She didn't want to describe it. She had not noticed that Harry had removed the knife from her hand until she felt him shift with her on top, to banish the knife to the bedside table. His tongue played with her bottom lip as Hermione stared into the lustful green eyes she had seen in her dream.

**That dream.**

For the second time that night, Hermione began to cry over the dream. Harry, probably feeling rejected, pulled away with a sad look on his face.

"You didn't want the kiss?" He asked sadly.

"No, no, I-it was just a stupid dream I had. It wasn't the kiss, God knows how long I wanted that." She in a small voice as Harry's eyes went wide and Harry smiled. But it was gone as soon as it had come as he placed his arms around her and hugged her tight. Hermione immediately fell into the hug.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, Hermione nodded and went into a well-described variation of her dream. Harry rubbed her affectionately on the back and listened attentively. He gave her a word of confidence every now and then to soothe her.

When she was done, a heavy weight seemed to have been lifted from her heart. She always knew she could talk to Harry about it. Harry kissed a tear that was falling down her cheek. He rolled her onto her side facing him. Their bodies so close both could feel the others reaction. After all Hermione was only in her panties and a bra. Hermione could tell that, just like in her dream, Harry was holding back from touching her. After looking into her eyes for a few moments, Harry spoke.

"Don't worry Hermione, no matter what, I'll be there for you. I want to be your boyfriend, after all, unless you don't want me to be?" He said in a fearfully questioning tone. Hermione was in shock after hearing about Harry wanting to be her boyfriend. She nodded and leaned forward and planted a loud kiss on his mouth. He grinned and scooted forward, pressing a rather eager erection onto her still soaking wet panties, causing both to moan.

Suddenly, Harry pulled back. He left a lot of space between the two of them. He looked rather scared and that saddened Hermione. She let tears fall once more over Harry. Realizing what he had done, Harry once again hugged her tightly to his chest and began to soothe her. After a while, the tears began to slow and Hermione could speak again. She opened her mouth but Harry placed a finger on her lips.

"I love you Hermione and I would do anything for you, but I don't want us to go any farther than that if it makes you uncomfortable." He said seriously. Hermione thought Harry was noble trying to put his own pleasures behind him to accommodate her.

Hermione dried her eyes in the crook of Harry's neck. She truly had gone through a myriad of emotions. And as of right now she felt nothing but love and happiness. It was a great feeling and she embraced it with her heart. Something she had not felt to such a complexity in all her life. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

She inhaled his scent. Her arms flew up Harry's shirt and wrapped around his body. Hermione could tell that Harry was still restraining himself again. She felt every crevice of his chest and upper torso. She opened her eyes and stared into his. She could tell that there was patience in them they was greatly appreciated by her. He wrapped his arms around her possessively pulled her closer to him.

Hermione gasped as she felt the erection pressing into her stomach. Harry yawned a bit and laughed.

"Don't pay attention to it. I can't control it." Harry delivered a kiss to her forehead before nodding off to sleep. She soon joined him.

_**Authors' Notes:  
**__**(1) I think I went a little overboard with that comment.  
****(2) I always thought Hermione was a little delusional when it came to Harry.  
****(3) Harry said his name, maybe Hermione wasn't attentive, imagine that!  
****(4) For those who read the scene, the spell made it wear she could not move,butshe could still feel whatever happens to her.  
****(5) Ihave no idea as to how to write a scream.**_

On with the notes, K of the K,W,G,T,B cried a bit as he added a bit of romance to the fic. I, of course, laughed. T wrote the scene, anyone who has any praises or problems with it should address it to him. None of us are perfect and if there is anything you do not understand, please Review and say something.

G of the K,W,G,T,B

P.S. In case you are wondering, yes there are five of us.


	3. Explanations

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has to do with Harry Potter. (LEAVE ME ALONE)**

_**Explanations**_

Hermione awoke the next morning to something hard pressing against her thigh. She tried not to move. It took her a moment to remember last night before she snuggled into the warm chest and arms that held her. She took her time to look at Harry's face.

He is just so beautiful when he is asleep, Hermione thought to herself. His face, his arms, were just prefect. He was perfect. She snuggled up closer to him and inhaled the scent that belonged exclusively to Harry. She could not image being without that scent one more day, one more hour, one more second.

Flying, soaring on the wings of love, she soon settled the knot that had begun to grow in her stomach by pressing her lips onto his. A kiss that she would remember for the rest of her life, one that changed her life and his life, though she did not know it at the time. It was a kiss that nearly ruined her life with Harry.

Harry moaned into the kiss from his interlocked lips.

Harry gave a small shake. "Mmm . . . Rachel." Hermione's bliss disappeared at once. Her eyes widened. That was not _her _name that had just come out of his lips. She pulled away from the kiss. His eyes popped on as he seemingly noticed his mistake.

"Sorry, I . . . " He murmured softly, scooting away from Hermione. Her eyes, now narrowed into slits, glared into his. Whether or not he noticed her displeasure was unclear. He sighed and just rolled over.

"Harry, who is _Rachel_?" She asked trying hard to prevent herself from screaming at him and/or running from the room, back to her place on the couch.

He gave another exasperated sigh and rolled back over to face her.

"She's someone _you_ don't have to worry about. Go back to sleep." He was going to roll over again but Hermione grabbed his arm tightly, sitting up.

Hermione growled in contempt. "I will _not _go to sleep. _You_ do not tell _me_ what to _do_! And she's definitely someone I have to worry about when you're kissing _me_ and thinking about _her_!" Her voice had risen to an alarming degree.

"Hermione, _please_ let it go." Harry spoke in a quiet voice that reminded her tremendously of the old Harry, the Harry she had known before the summer. It was his 'angry but not wanting to show it' voice. It made her feel a little afraid of him.

"_What was she to you that you remember her while we are kissing_? Do I _look_ like her, _kiss_ like her? What is it that made you think of her while we are kissing?"

"Hermione, it was an accident."

"OUT of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. SO don't you _dare_ say this was an accident!" She slid to the edge of the bed. She pulled some sheets with her by accident, and turned back to him. "Do you love her?" Her sharp tone was piercing and she hoped it shredded him to pieces. He looked out the window, refusing to meet her eyes.

The sun as coming over the horizon and replaced the moonlight. The dark sky was lightening up and turning blue. She saw all of the emotions on his face.

And studying his emotions made her even angrier. Nowhere on his face was there any sign of remorse or regret, he turned to look at her. The only thing she saw on his face was a 'just drop it and go back to sleep' look. She wanted an answer; she did not care about him being heartbroken, sad, or mad, she just wanted a truthful answer.

He gave her another one of those pleading looks; she wanted to take the knife off the night stand and cut the look off his face. Minutes had passed, seemingly, and he still had not answered her question. She waited a few more minutes for an answer. He focused strongly on her eyes. Like he was trying not to look anywhere else, like he was hypnotizing her into forgetting his mistake. Suddenly, his eyes went from her face quickly to the sheet pooling in her lap.

She realized her slight nudity.

Suddenly she felt exposed. She reached for the sheets but withdrew her hands as she thought more about it.

So what if he sees her in her undergarments. He's probably seen many girls in their undergarments or maybe even in the buff. Maybe he's comparing me to those girls this moment. Her anger reached a new high. Some freakishly strong magic filled the room. It was not coming from Harry, yet it felt as strong as Harry's. It was coming from her. When she was pissed, she was really pissed. It was driving her into thinking unimaginable thoughts. It was putting ideas into her head. Irrational thoughts and ideas! She tried with all her might to scoff the thought down, but she failed miserably.

"Are you even going to answer my question?" She asked trying to divert her thoughts back to being pissed off at Harry. She looked and waited for his eye to meet hers again and for him to give the news that she dreaded and yet, she wanted. She wanted to make him feel as much pain as possible, and him telling her that he still loved that _Rachel_ was her _excuse_ to do so.

Instead of giving her what she wanted, he looked towards the second bedroom set. There was a far a way look in his eyes. She saw the muscles in his neck and back twitch slightly. She lost it.

"YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH! All of this time I thought you liked me, you said it you bastard. You said you loved me. Said you wanted to be my boyfriend. But all of this time you were really thinking of that _Rachel_. You _bastard_!" She wanted to punch that blank look off his face. Hermione continued to rage. "What am I to you, some trophy? How many other 'trophies' are there?" She asked in a chillingly low voice.

He turned and faced the window. She was ready to pounce on him physically, and would have done so if her magic hadn't gotten there first.

The muscles in his back began moving oddly, there were visibly constricting and he started convulsing. He opened his mouth in a silent scream. Hermione was beginning to get worried when Harry started gasping and groaning. She wanted to stop it but something made _her_ stop, something told her to forget it. It told her that Harry deserved whatever he got. Her magic was devilish. The way in which she believed he had fooled her made her believe that he deserved it.

He was thrown on his back by her magic, onto his pillows moaning in anguish and shaking nonstop. He began to grow hair, more so fur, everywhere.

"I hope you're thinking of her now!" Hermione grabbed the sheet and left the room in a huff. Not looking back as the figure in the room was painfully turning into the dog he was.

That morning, Hermione confronted him at breakfast. She was not sure how he reversed the magic she had placed on him, but he carefully avoided her eyes. He has every right to be scared, she thought to herself. Her confrontation was meant to slander and slaughter him in front of everyone at the table. Everyone was there, namely all of the Weasley, except the twins, Percy, and Charlie. There was something about additional protection at Hogwarts, Mr. Weasley had said about Charlie, Hermione was not paying attention.

Tonks and Moody were there. Tonks, because of her relationship to Remus, and to Sirius. Moody as a protection. He was also keeping an eye on anything suspicious Harry was doing, Ron had told her. The nameless guy Harry had brought was there to, Hermione did not pay much attention to him. Remus was there too, he looked a little sick, the full moon was coming.

Harry was spooning though his oatmeal casting the now usual, nervous glance at the others at the table. His left hand was under the table, as usual. His eyes never once landed on Hermione, they seemed to be avoiding her.

"So who's the bitch _Rachel_, Harry?" She asked, making sure to say the name with as much contempt as possible.

Harry's spoon dropped from his hand with a loud clatter and very powerful magic filled the air as if on a mission of suffocation. It pressed onto Hermione from all sides, as if it were trying to force the very life out of her. Though this time the magic was coming from neither Harry nor Hermione. Hermione gasped for air and shivered at the same time. The nameless guy Harry had brought with him, had gone a furious red color in the face and was glowing slightly. She winced; he was now glaring at her.

She felt her insides tremble at the display of magic from someone younger than she. And it seemed to be vented at her. The others at the table, mouths had dropped. From what Hermione could tell, their reactions were more likely from what she had said than the display of magic the guy was showing.

Mrs. Weasley scurried over to the sink and summoned dishes to her from the table. She didn't seem to care that there was food, uneaten, still on it. Tonks had grabbed Remus' hand in shock. Ginny had fallen out of her seat and gave Hermione a look that clearly said, 'you should not have said that', as Mr. Weasley helped her up.

What was going on? Everyone seemed to know something that she didn't. Ron even gave her a 'you've gone to far' look.

Harry shot the nameless guy a warning look and the magic receded. Hermione sucked in large mouthfuls of air. "_Hermione, please don't do this here._" He pleaded. Hermione would have thrown a plate at him if Mrs. Weasley had not summoned them all. Perhaps that was the reason why she summoned them.

Hermione's frustration of not knowing what everyone else knew spurred her on. "Why not?" She waved a hand at the others. "Why not let them know that Harry Potter says the names of other girls after he has _jumped into bed with a new one_!" Mrs. Weasley slammed the pan she was washing on the counter and turned to face Hermione, she was extremely red in the face and Hermione didn't think it was because she was embarrassed about something.

Before Mrs. Weasley could say anything, Harry spoke in a cold, soft voice. "First," He said holding up a finger, "There aren't any other girls. There was only one, Matt's mother." He pointed to the nameless guy, Matt, who was still glaring at her. The table was quiet. Hermione was mortified but Harry continued. "Second," He held up a second finger, "We didn't have sex so you can cut the 'new girl' crap." He held up a third finger. "Third, I don't jump into bed with anyone, let's not forget who jumped into whose bed." Hermione saw red.

"How dare you lie in front of everyone here, we all know you had sex with Tonks and who knows how many other g-."

He slammed a hand onto the table and glared at her. She jumped, along with some of the others. She had never seen him so enraged, and at her nonetheless. "I never slept with Tonks. It was an act concocted by Mrs. Weasley, Remus, Tonks, and me. It was to wake up your feelings for me. Just like the one you did with Victor Krum, only _I_ got the participators' approval." His voice went colder and sounded constrained. "I _approached_ Tonks with the idea and she liked it. Mrs. Weasley had to be persuaded. Remus and Dumbledore were in on it from the beginning which was the fight Dumbledore and I acted out." A glare stung the side of her face, though she wasn't sure whom it belonged to. She refused to turn; she absolutely refused to break eye contact with Harry.

"I-." He stopped her before she even got her first word out.

"And before you say anything about Rachel, you should know: I love her and _our_ son very much. And though she's gone I will never forget her, and I take care of _our_ son, Matt." Hermione froze. She didn't know how to react to this. It's times like these that make her realize why the Sorting Hat put her in Gryffindor and not in Ravenclaw, only a Gryffindor could get into a situation such as this.

Not giving her a chance for rebuttal, he jumped up. Hermione's eyes trailed immediately to his left hand, to his ring finger. There it was; a silver wedding band. That left so many questions, but one of the most reoccurring thoughts was; what did he mean by 'gone?'.

"I fell in love and got married. Not long after, my wife died and left me with a kid to raise when I'm just a kid myself. I promised to look after him as if he were mine by blood, I promised to never forget her and I don't break my promises." He left the room at top speed. Ginny jumped up immediately, throwing Hermione a look that showed whose side she was really on, Harry's, and she rushed after him. Hermione stared at the door they had exited through not knowing what to do or what to say.

The guy, Matt shared a look with Mrs. Weasley. He left the kitchen as well but with Tonks and Mrs. Weasley in pursuit, though Mrs. Weasley left only after she had spelled the dishrags to clean the dishes.

Soon everyone else, namely Ron, Remus, and Mr. Weasley, had left their seats as well. Hermione was the only one left at the table now. She sat running over everything she had been told and all the new information that explained strange incidents in the past. Why he was always hiding his left hand, the looks that passed between everyone. It also explained why no one acted surprised by any of the information Harry had given them.

Later on that day, she sat in the garden amongst the many weeds and plants that grew abundantly and climbed the fences. She sat on the steps and received a grand view of the whole garden. When she had first come out there, she had seen an area devoid of the green pest. And a path seemed to have been cleared around the inside border of the fence. A running path, and she was sure that the other cleared area on the other side of the garden held the gym equipment that belonged to Harry.

Somehow, through some subconscious walking, she had ended up outside with a big bowl of wizard cereal that stayed as crunchy or as soggy as you wanted it for as long as you wanted it to be. Hermione was not sure how long she had been out there. The sun was now high above her, and she still refused to go inside.

Someone cleared his or her throat from behind her.

She turned as the guy, Matt, she remembered Harry calling him, sat down on a step, he sat diagonally from her. She had a feeling that Harry sent him out, or perhaps someone else in the house, someone who didn't hate her guts. Most likely Mrs. Weasley, he seemed to be on good terns with her, which explained his meal helpings and the shared looks between the two.

Hermione saw him aiming to slide into the seat next to her and she quickly placed her now empty, cereal bowl there. He lost his balance for a moment, before he sat back in his original seat. "I guess I should have expected that. All girls seem to resent me."

Well, she had to give him some credit. At least he didn't come out there demanding her to do something about Harry or arguing with her. But why not, though she preferred to be on his good side after that earlier display of magic, why wasn't he mad at her. Or at least showing anger towards her. She had said a quite mean thing about his deceased mother even though she hadn't known that _Rachel_ was his mother or that she was deceased at the time.

His peaceful demeanor, whilst very welcomed, freaked her out.

"What do you want?" She asked angrily as he stared at her. She seriously disregarded the fact that, she was sure, he could outmatch her magically and physically.

He seemed slightly startled by her straightforwardness. "You don't beat around the bush at all, do you?" He gave a toothy grin and his sapphire eyes sparkled, his teeth were any dentists' joy. "I want you to go inside and make up with Harry. He-."

"Can go to hell!" Hermione finished for him. She jumped and reached for her bowl. His hand caught her one of her wrists in a vicelike grip. "Let go of me!" She attempted to yank herself free and ended up falling into his lap. He gave a mocking smile.

"A promising position, don't you think." He loosened the grip his hand on her hand a bit, so he was still in control yet he wasn't hurting her. Their positioning _was_ very awkward.

Hermione pulled her other hand around and slapped him hard. He was momentarily dazed, Hermione realized too late that she could have broken free while he was dazed. He grabbed her other wrist and doing some fancy hand motions, had Hermione's hands pinned behind her back with one of his hands. She was crushed against his chest and the more she pushed away from him the harder it became for her to move her hands.

It was a genius technique, though she would never tell him.

She fought him ferociously. She screamed and he pushed her face against his chest, muffling her screams. She kicked and bit him, but through some horrid luck, all of her efforts were futile. She fought fiercely but the guy was like a brick wall. He was definitely a good actor though. He almost fooled her into thinking he was a pushover; he was anything but. Still she screamed, but her screams were muffled into his chest. She kicked but her feet made nothing but erratic thumps against the ground. She bit him once and did not do it again. He seemed to enjoy it. And while she struggled, using everything they had taught her in that defense class, he did nothing but hold her in a bear hug that she would expect from Hagrid.

The sun was sinking west in the sky. She knew she must act as well. She wanted him to think she'd given up so he would let her go. She stopped fighting him. Her breathing was steady and she went limp. She waited now for him to let go of her so she could deal with him properly. He loosened up a bit. She wiggled her hands behind her back.

In a quick motion, he let go of one of her hands and grabbed both of her wrists with one hand. His other hand roamed about her body. Though she was disgusted that he was feeling her up, she didn't move. Something slid across her butt, and she could not wait to retaliate. The patting stopped.

"Are you ready to hear what I have to say, now?" He didn't need to ask, she thought angrily, She wiggled but made no attempt to even try escaping. What on earth have they been feeding this guy?

She gave a muffled 'yes'. He let her go. She kneeled, ignoring the fact that both her legs and feet had fallen asleep began quickly searching for her wand. She had kneeled into the cereal bowl by accident when something poked her in the stomach. She looked down to see her own wand being lazily pointed at her. She removed her hands from her pockets and sat next to him on the step, defeated.

She gave a sigh. " All right, you win! I'll listen." She eyed her wand with contempt. "Traitor!" She murmured.

Much to her dismay and disgust, he leaned back and slipped her wand down the front of his pants. "You won't make a grab for it in there." She was too shocked to speak. She heard what sounded like a giggle from somewhere around this but dismissed it when she could not find the source.

She turned her attention back to Matt. "You and just about every other girl I meet." He looked over to her. "Will you tell me why you are so mad at Harry?"

She gave him her 'it's so obvious' look. "He says another girl's name while he's kissing me, and he doesn't even apologize."

"She's a woman." He said softly. There was a slight antagonizing tone to it.

Hermione didn't understand him, "Huh."

"My mom was a thirty-three-year-old _woman_. 'Not girl'."

Hermione was shocked. She hadn't even considered the age difference. "He's just tuned sixteen, what was she thinking?" She asked to herself.

"She was in love and maybe I should start from the beginning like Harry did at the Order meeting."

"Order meeting," She inquired, "What Order meeting?" She did not remember an Order meeting with him there.

"The one that was called immediately after Nymph and Mrs. W went at it." She gave his nicknames a small laugh. "Mrs. W informed Big-Beard that I was here. He called me and Harry down and we told him the story." She laughed at his name for Dumbledore.

"What story?" She asked looking at the bowl that she had knocked over after the tussle.

"The one I will tell you about if you promise not to interrupt." He saw that she was aiming to pick up her bowl and told her to stop but it was too late and Hermione got an eyeful of squirming bugs. She let out a scream and threw the bowl across the yard. "Nice throw."

"Just tell the damn story."

"Right away madam. My full name is Matthew Jonathan Brown-Hayes-Potter. My father is Harry James Potter and is the legal heir to the Potter and Black fortunes. Because, and on Harry's orders, I carry the Hayes' name, I am legally the heir to both the Hayes and Brown fortunes. The Brown belonging to my biological father whose fortune was left to my mom even though he remarried. My mom kept her maiden name, Hayes." He took a breath.

"My mother is an American pureblooded witch from very prominent lineage. The Hayes date back to the American Revolutionary Era, some say they date back before even Marco Polo. From the moment, the American Revolution, they became one of the most influential pureblood families in the States. There are many witches and wizards there, so it was easy to marry into a pureblood family without marrying a distant cousin or relative. They built up an extremely powerful lineage."

"That's why my father married my mom. The lineage thing really caught his attention. He could be the head of a very powerful family. He didn't care what he would have to do to get to the money and wealth. The fastest method would be to marry into the family and kill us all off." Hermione gasped. "My grandmother 'Saw' that my mom was blinded by love and wasn't thinking straightly, so she made my mom keep her maiden name. It's the family heirloom."

He paused and scratched behind his ear. The sun was lowering itself slowly to the horizon. "My father was not happy with my grandma, months after the name change, my grandmother disappeared." Hermione touched his shoulder sympathetically. "He left us and filed for a divorce. My mom didn't want one so early, it had been four years, into the marriage. You need both parties' consent to make a divorce final in the Wizarding World. So he simply married another woman while he was still married to my mom." He sighed. "That's why when he died, the Browns' fortune went to my mother, his second marriage wasn't legal."

He took another breath. "We moved to Privet Drive around the start of the summer. Then Harry came, he was sent by some institution, St. Brutus, I think." Hermione _had_ to interrupt _here_.

"Harry doesn't go to St. Brutus. His relatives made the story up. He goes to Ho-."

"Hogwarts, I know. But this specific summer his uncle enrolled him into St. Brutus' Summer Camp. He told everyone that Harry had run away. Convinced Dumbledore, if I remember correctly." He sat up suddenly but stopped and gave a grunt of pain. He laid back down very quickly. "Forgot about the wand." Came his throaty reply. Hermione could not help herself. A laugh burst from her. He gave her a pained smile.

After a moment, he started speaking again, this time in a higher pitch. "The Hayes are known for their frankness, their integrity, and definitely," He coughed and his voice returned to normal, "some with their ability to foresee things. Which is why mom and Harry made me keep the Hayes names, it's the key to my birthright aside from the blood that runs through my veins. Two days before St. Brutus sent Harry to us my mom had the '_urge_' to call lawyer and ask for a divorce contract, she did so. It was never finalized; my father died before it was settled. I think my mom had something to do with his death." He said it as if it were no big deal. "She probably was trying to track him down and the divorce, which he has wanted badly, was the bait. I think she did it so I could have the Brown and Hayes inheritances."

"She called St. Brutus and asked for a helper, and she did so on another 'urge'. Then she confined herself to The Room. It's a place where 'things' pop into her head. From Harry's account, it looked like Professor Tree-Lawny's room. Long story short, Harry worked for us. We both liked Harry, her more than me of course." He gave a smile. "I thought he was cool since he let me ride his Firebolt."

"Our yard had been enlarged by a Volume Expanding spell. And it was enchanted so that it looked like a regular garden. Harry and I played Quidditch when he was through with his cleaning rounds about the house. He kind of filled in that fatherless space inside of me, then and now. And as I look back on it now, I can kind of see how he filled the husband spot in my mom's life. He listened to her, let her rant at him, was caring, protective, definitely protective."

"I remember one day, when she asked Harry to babysit me. I protested, I was old enough to watch myself. She did not come back until very late at night and Harry and I was asleep on the couch. She didn't have the soul to wake him and so she let us sleep. The milkman came the next morning. He always had a thing for her. He started making some comments, that had I gotten to him first. . ." He trailed off with an angry shake.

"Harry heard the comments from the kitchen and was in the man's face before I even comprehended what the man had said. Harry had the guy on his butt soon enough. I'm sure the guy had a blacked eye and a broken nose. Harry added more salt to the wounds by hitting him with the door as he slammed it. There was some definite tension between mom and Harry afterwards."

"Anyway, one day at lunch, my mom just blurts out that she was a Plane Jumper." Hermione gasped in recognition of the name. "I'm guessing that you know what a Plane Jumper is." She nodded.

It was a subject that they were going to learn this year in History of Magic, they had already received their O. W. Ls and she and Ron both passed History of Magic. She had decided to continue to take the class as a Newt. And she had read her books for the upcoming year before she came to Grimmauld Place this summer. She remembered a _bit_ about the Plane Jumpers.

Plane Jumpers were men and women of ancient wizard blood lines; they were usually pureblooded or a squib. They were always, however, related to Merlin by some blood. The last recorded Jumper died in 1743. The Jumping was a instant transportation, from one dimension of time, one alternate universe, or one planetary system to another. They bypassed time and space, yet they aged at a pace or time according to their native realm of existence, which was earth. Unless Merlin had any alien children, Hermione thought.

Things began to click into place. "So your mom took you and Harry to another plane of existence . . . " He continued his story from where she had left off. ". . .One in which a day here was about twelve weeks there. Harry was gone for here for fifteen, so we were there for a little less than three and a half years and aged as such. But we assumed that when we returned, we'd go back to our normal ages." He smiled. "There, Harry found he wasn't much of a celebrity, but still managed to catch the eye of one of the most revered fighters/trainers in that world, Master Kauwn. Harry trained with him for two of the three years. A feat I could never pull off. I spent one _day_ with him and was crying at the end of the session."

"Anyway, they fell in love there. Harry and my mom, got married in the middle of our second year there." He gave a sigh. "That's when I found that she had an illness. Harry told me after he had taken her to the doctor there. He knew about it from the beginning of our time in the other realm. I hated that she never told me she was sick. I've always known something was wrong with her. Hayes' instincts! Since she was our only transportation between the worlds, and she wouldn't risk us being stuck there, had something happened to her, she brought us back here, and Selian and Snow. Snow is Master Kauwn's phoenix; she travels back and forth between the two realms to carry messages from one to the other. Anyway, we noticed when we arrived that we had aged wrongly."

"What?" Hermione asked, a little confused.

"We had aged to the time cycle of the realm we were in, not to that of the Earth's. We were all three years older, excluding my mom."

Hermione shook her head in disbelief. "Jumpers are supposed to age to the time cycle of their native realm, it said so in the b-." He stopped her.

"The book was right." Hermione didn't follow. "The _Jumpers_ age to the time cycle of their realm but not any companions." Hermione gave a small 'oh'.

"Please continue."

"It seemed that everything would be back to normal. Harry had written to Dumbledore before we left, and said that he would be arriving here on the first of August, and we had ten days until he would be leaving. He only spent five days in that camp thing, I bet his relatives won't be happy about that." Hermione suddenly remembered Harry sending her Hedwig in the first week of the summer vacation.

He smiled at her then frowned deeply as he spoke. "As I said everything seemed back to normal almost, but then my mom's sickness caught up with her. The Jumping had made her even sicker; not that we knew about it. One reason why Harry blamed himself for her death." Hermione felt sick all of a sudden.

_What had she done!_

"She died, leaving me with everything she ever wanted me to have: a father and a few fortunes. Yet she left Harry with a nuisance."

"That's not true. You're not a nuisance to Harry believe me. But I don't understand, wouldn't Harry receive the inheritance? Unless she had a will, it would go to Harry, wouldn't it." She stated.

"Oh it _would_ go to Harry and it _did_ go to Harry. He _bequeathed_ it onto me. He said it would bring me closer to my mom and dad. He also made me his heir in case something happened to him, meaning that I'm now the heir to the Potters, Evans, and the Blacks. Just think what my name would be if something happened to him. It would be Jonathan Brown-Hayes-potter-Black-Evans. I'd feel like Big Beard. He told me his name and I thought he was naming his ancestors as well."

They went into silence for a moment. "Why do you think you're a nuisance to Harry?" She asked wanting to hear more about him and Harry.

He gave her a look that almost made her forget about her wand being shoved into his pants. "He's practically a teenager. I'll admit, he's mature beyond his years, but he is not ready for parenthood. He tells me to call him 'Harry' because he's not old enough to be called 'dad' in public. _I_ think it's because my mom _threw_ him into the parenting thing without giving him a chance to adapt to his surroundings, and married life with a child."

Hermione shook her head, not agreeing with his opinions. "_I_ think it's because he sees too much of your mother in you and that the 'Harry' thing is for your own protection."

He gave her a knowing smile. "You don't say!" He looked at the now blazing horizon. "I just don't know."

Hermione was about to establish a good point on how good Harry was around and with protecting others, how loving and caring Harry was. Then she remembered she was supposed to be angry at Harry. But how could she, she though, she just could not bring herself to do it. She leaned in and whispered as if someone was nearby. "Maybe he's afraid of losing another important person in his life. He _has_ lost a lot. He just lost his Godfather and now his . . . his wife." He turned to look at her with a saddened look on his face. They were inches apart, yet Hermione did not mind. "You're probably the most important person in his life right now." The magical light to the porch flickered on and off for a few moments. Hermione snapped back into a straight-backed position, away from Matt.

They realized that the sun was gone now. Darkness and the sound of the nocturnal animals had settled over them like a blanket, without them knowing.

Ginny was in the doorframe waving her wand, extinguishing and lighting the orb that served as light, on and off repeatedly. She stopped when they noticed her and she gave an impish grin. "No having '_fun_' on the porch." She said to Hermione ignoring Matt's presence. She then gave Hermione a large wink. "Good choice," She practically purred, looking Matt over now, "but he's more my age. You'll take the dad and I'll take the son, we could be family!" She said excitedly. She blew Matt a kiss and disappeared into the house.

"And you said you had girl-problems." She leaned over and without a second thought, unzipped his pants. She could not hide her giggle as she saw his red, white, and blue boxers with stars and strips.

He jumped up to stop her, once more forgetting about the wand in his pants. Hermione could not conceal her second giggle as he went red and laid back down, limped from the pain.

"Just take it." He said in a shaky, squeaky voice. "What I won't endure for my own safety!" He moaned. She giggled again. She put her hand back into his pants and turned her head away. Her wand was a lot deeper than when he had first put it in there, it moved too much. But she found it though.

"Hermione!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked from the doorway. Hermione was so surprised that she slammed her wand-clasped hand on Matt's. . . She let go of her wand after he grunted in pain, he seemed on the verge of tears. (FYI. Hermione's hand is in his pants, not his underwear. And this event was revised from the original merely to satisfy K of the K. W. G. T. B.)

"It's not what it looks like." She said immediately. What _does_ it look like? She observed the position they were in. Her, with her hand down his pants. Matt, laid-back across the stairs with his face red and his head back. . . oh crap. Well, there was nothing she could do about it now. "I'm just trying to get my wand." She heard a squeal of laughter from within the kitchen. She blushed immediately at the way her statement came out.

Mrs. Weasley gave her the evil eye and slowly her face broke out in a smile. Her impish expression clearly matched that of Ginny. "I know nothing is going on, I've been watching-," "and listening" Someone yelled from inside, "-to you from the window. Come in for dinner, dearies." She left. With her head turned away from her hands, Hermione made a grab for her wand and ended up grabbing something else. Matt gave a howl of anguish and started shaking, and he seemed too afraid to move.

"You know, some guys would love to have me do that to them." She said pretending indignity. She grabbed _her_ wand this time and stood, placing it back in her back pocket.

"Not if they've been hit in the balls three time, one after the other."

"Language! Do you kiss Harry with that mouth?" He gave her a glare. "You know what I mean." He huffed and laid back on the stairs. "Let's go." She said.

"I'm going to stay here and recuperate."

"Oh come one you big baby." She said, helping him up. She pulled her wand out before summoning her gross bowl, she cleaned it and took it and Matt, who was slightly doubled over, into the house.

"Hermione, what did you do to him?" Ginny asked dramatically. "You'd better not have broken him, I still need to use him. . ." Her parents cleared their throats and gave her warning looks. ". . .to share my cherry pie w-."

"GINNY!" They yelled. Tonks tried hard not to laugh and to conceal her hilarity but the flashing rainbow colors of her hair were a dead give away.

"We'll eat in the den." Hermione said, helping the blushing boy out of the limelight.

"Don't forget to wash your hands, with all of the _wand searching_ you were doing out there." The table erupted in laughter. Hermione noticed Harry wasn't there.

Matt must have caught her train of thought. "Help me into the den and I'll explain."

As they made their way out of the kitchen, Ginny yelled: "What type of underwear does he w-."

"Ginny!" Her mother exclaimed.

Matt gave Hermione a look that said 'if you tell I will kill you'. "Red, white, and blue boxers with stars and strips on them." She said ending with a jump and a gasp. He had pinched her butt as hard as he could as Ginny began to laugh.

"America through and through." Ginny laughed, those at the table erupted in laughter again. Matt blushed.

They talked dinner away and Hermione felt more and more like and idiot with each passing sentence. She felt sympathetic not only to Harry, but to Matt as well. It took a lot of courage for him to tell her about his mom, how Harry had trained, how he, Matt was a Parselmouth. It was his genetics. His family had the Blessed Gifts in their blood. Each family member had a different gift. No two family members alive at the same time shared the same gift. If they did, one or both of them must have a second gift.

Matt's mom had been a Jumper and a Senser. She sensed what she had to do in life to make it better. That was partially the reason for the 'urges' she gets. He explained that the only reason she had two gifts was because his uncle, who died at the hands of some American dark wizard, was a Senser as well.

He told her about how hard Master Kauwn had trained Harry. She shocked that Harry managed to survive, let alone go on for a year. Matt went into lighter events. He gave her small anecdotes on his and Harry's excursions in the other realm. Thus they began trading stories of Harry until Mrs. Weasley shooed them upstairs. They continued on in Harry and Matt's room. Harry was still absent and it troubled Matt tremendously.

He said, gravely, that Harry must have gone to visit Matt's mom's grave. Matt said that he went with Harry every Saturday after his mom's death. And Harry went alone sometimes, leaving Matt at the house they inherited on Privet Drive, but even then Harry did not stay for hours on end.

They continued with the stories, though half-hearted. Soon both were yawning and dosing off on Matt's bed. Hermione decided that it was time they turned in.

"You can have my bed and I'll take Harry's." When she inquired about where Harry was going to sleep he said: "He's likely not to come back tonight, you've given him a lot to think about.

Hermione fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillows. Her sleep was only temporary though since she had been shaken out of it. She buried her face into Matt's pillows to hide from whatever that was causing her to wake up.

"Hermione, wake up." A recognizably deep voice, immediately snapped her out of her sleep.

"Harry?"

"_No_, _Professor Snape_." She rolled over and punched him sleepily on the arm.

"Are you trying to give me nightmares?" She stared into the darkness and his face loomed into view. His eyes were slightly puffy. He had been crying. "Harry, I-." His lips descended softly upon hers. The kiss was soft and sweet, and Hermione never wanted it to end.

When they reluctantly pulled away, Harry gave her a grin and showed her his left hand. The wedding band was gone.

"Harry, you shouldn't have!" She was happy that he was taking the steps to getting over the death of his late wife but she hated the fact that she forced him to. And there was the matter of Matt, she wanted him to be able to go to Harry and talk about his mother openly, just as he had with Hermione.

"I didn't." He showed her a chain that hung from his neck. On it was the ring. He turned to her apologetically: "I could not get rid of it." He said solemnly. She stood up and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Good. I wouldn't want you to try to forget such an amazing woman." He smiled brightly. "As long as you can make room for me in there." She said pointing to his heart.

"Of course I can. Mark has been talking to you, I can see."

"How did you know?"

He looked at her suspiciously all of a sudden. Mrs. Weasley told me. She also told me something about you _molesting_ my son." Hermione went red. "Come on, let's go before _they_ wake up."

"Who?" She asked as they exited Matt's side of the room and entered Harry's. He pointed to his bed, which was surrounded by a shimmer, a transparent wall they she recognized as a Silencing Charm. On his bed were Ginny, who appeared to be shirtless, and Matt who _was_ shirtless. They both had a tiny glow around them and satisfied grins on their faces.

Harry bent down and picked up some red, white, and blue boxers. Hermione recognized the stars and stripes. They were Matt's.

"Those are his. . . T-They didn't, they wouldn't" She said though it was obvious that they had.

"So you recognize my son's underwear." They looked at each other and shared a small laugh. "Wait till he wakes up in the morning, he's dead. . . if he didn't use protection." Harry added as an after thought. Hermione glared at him. "What! He's a boy, what do you expect me to say! And I'm definitely too young to be a grandfather. A grandfather at eighteen, it's unheard of."

"It's virtually impossible. And he's right. You're definitely not father material. Well, actually that's a lie because my father says stupid things all the time too." She said walking towards the door.

Harry threw the boxers on the bed. "Well of course I'm not father material. But I have my moments." They stepped out of the room quietly, and quietly closed the doors behind them.

As they walked down the hall, Harry asked in a whisper, "Just out of _pure_ curiosity, what king of underwear are _you_ wearing right now?"

Hermione gave an impish grin that she stole from the female Weasleys. "None." Harry grinned back.

"Likewise." He gave her a look that was so full of lust and passion, and it melted her immediately. He began pulling her toward the nearest bathroom.

"Why are we going in there?" She asked but not putting up a fight.

"_Making Babies 101_, Professor Granger." She gasped at the implied reference to her study of _Harry Potter 101_. She did not ask how he knew, the only other person who knew was _Ginny_. Traitor, but I got something on her, Hermione thought wickedly. She giggled as Harry closed the bathroom door. Summer time was definitely, now, her favorite time of the year

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_**Authors' Notes:**_

_**I'm happy I don't have to worry about losing this story if something were to have to my laptop. I love the way I set up the plot, and it makes it easy to write a sequel. However, there will be not talk of sequels until I get these chapters of In the Midst of It All, Too Grown Up, and Transformed off my laptop as well. Expect these installments in a few days. I have to prepare for Midterms, which are a week away. But I'm multitasking. I'm playing a prerecorded study guide of my first year German class while I type this. So I say to you all, Guten Nacht und Auf Wiedersehen.**_

G of the K,W,G,T,B


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